Therapy? What's that?
by Firedawn'd
Summary: Hestia's had enough of the gods' squabbling, and signs them up for Therapy. COMPLETE.
1. In Which Hestia Signs Them Up

Hestia was pretty much trembling. _No, not trembling,_ she told herself.

Frightened? Terrified? That was more like it.

She honestly couldn't've stopped doing what she did. Yesterday was another day of bickering. Again. The gods were fighting each other at their thrones, and the so-called ''meeting'' was going nowhere.

Hestia was on her last nerve yesterday. Which was saying something, because she had gone through a lot of nerves in the millennias of continuous, non-stop squabbles.

After hearing Apollo rant about his lost lover for the twelfth time of the day as she tried her best to respectfully _not_ shake him out of his sulking, seeing Hera yell at Zeus for his infidelity for the thousandth time while trying _not_ to gouge her eyes out, and getting the nagging feeling to _not_ round the corner wherein Ares' shrill screams came from...

Yeah. Talk about nerves.

She nearly gave in to the temptation to scream something along the lines of: ''CAN YOU GODS STOP ACTING LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN AND FOR ZEUS' SAKE, GET A GRIP ON THINGS!'' But to think about it, that wouldn't work, because Zeus was acting like child too.

Anyway, the main problem was that she couldn't take it anymore and booked a group session with what mortals called a _therapist._ She wasn't too sure about the ''rapist'' part though.

She did some research about how to stop her crazy dysfunctional family from fighting because if she heard Apollo say a Haiku one more time, she would voluntarily jump into Tartarus.

The results on the Hephaestus Search Engine said that she should consult a therapist and book a group therapy session for her family.

Hestia honestly hoped it worked, because she really wanted to try get her dysfunctional family to at least _behave_.

Booking was easy.

Getting her entire family to do it was not.

Zeus was sort of a, well, to put it in mortal words, _control-freak_. He wanted to know everything everyone else would do and approve (or disapprove) of it.

That was why Hestia was kinda freaked out to ask Zeus for approval for something that she had already went and done. Take Prometheus, for example. He asked Zeus if he could give humans fire. Zeus said no. Prometheus did it. Hestia may-or-may-not have helped him. Prometheus got eternal torture from eagle ripping out stomach.

She could just back out of it (the group therapy session), but Hestia was a woman of her word.

Zeus called in a meeting today again, and she hoped that he would like her, er, suggestion.

Voluntarily jumping into Tartarus was one thing.

Being blasted into it was another.


	2. In Which They Have Their (849th) Meeting

Zeus called in the meeting. Everyone was here, but not everyone was that interested.

Well, scratch that. _No one_ was interested.

Hermes was busy playing some game on his caduceus/phone (was that the faint markings of _God of War?_ ), Ares was yelling some random swears at Hermes (perhaps something to do with _God of War?),_ as Poseidon toyed a ship around in the ocean near Olympus while Dionysus cheered him on and popped his 1010 AD wine.

Hades was flirting with Persephone as Persephone flirted back, much to their relief Demeter was too obsessed with her cereal to notice. Apollo was flirting with a random Nymph, which made Artemis was glare at Apollo resentfully. Athena was muttering random facts under her breath, much to the annoyance of Poseidon who sat at the seat next to was eyeing the Nymph Apollo was flirting with, which caused Hera to look at her husband disdainfully. Hephaestus was on his phone and Aphrodite was also on her phone, both strangely quiet.

Hestia coughed up the courage and walked up to Zeus, who was trying to get this place back in order. ''Excuse me, my lord?''

Suddenly, the whole atmosphere went quiet. Hestia barely said anything, so all eyes were trained on her. She was determined not to back down, though.

''My Lord Zeus. I have booked the entire Council of Olympians to participate in a group therapy session. This session will be run by a Therapist, and the session aims to help us to sort out our differences.''

Everyone went quiet (as if it wasn't quiet enough already). Zeus stroked his beard thoughtfully. ''I'd say, this is a great idea, Hestia!'' Hestia smiled, bowed, and while thanking her lucky stars walked straight out of the throne room as she swore never to come back until the next millennia or something.

Actually, Zeus hadn't been listening to what Hestia had just said. He was still staring at the Nymph that Apollo was previously flirting with. _Wow, what a hottie,_ Zeus thought. Hera must've caught the look in his eye though, because her expression now became dangerous.

Now though, all the Olympians eyes were on him. Zeus must've looked rather uncomfortable though, because one of the Olympians piped up ''Um.. Lord Zeus, did you actually hear what Hestia said?''

''Yeah, Father, did you?'' Hermes chimed in, a wickedly playful grin on his face. Thankfully Zeus didn't notice Hermes' face, or else by now Hermes would've been banished to Earth ten times already.

''I, uh,'' Zeus rumbled. Sweat trickled from his forehead, as he quickly reverted his gaze from the Nymph back to the Olympians.

''You _were_ listening, right?'' Hera said dangerously, as the _time-to-murder-my-husband-and-make-his-girlfriend-suffer_ flame burned dark.

Zeus must've looked _very_ uncomfortable at that point, because Athena decided to bail him out. ''Father had definitely heard what Lady Hestia had said, otherwise; why would he agree to it? Furthermore, I imagine that through this therapy session, it indeed would help us set aside our differences and let us actually do something in these meetings.'' She glared at Poseidon as she said that.

The other Olympians started murmuring and discussing between them.

''I think it's a good idea''

''I mean.. what have we got to lose?''

''I guess it's a win-win situation.. We get to stop arguing, and we get to stop going on these useless meetings.''

''Who would be this ''Therapist?'' I do not wish the secret of the gods be spilled to the mortal world.''

''We could give it a try, right?''

Zeus fidgeted in his throne. ''So it is decided, right? All of us Olympians would go to this 'Group Therapy Session' and try to stop fighting?''

There were nods from most of the Olympians, some more enthusiastic than the others. A few were peer-pressured to join (namely Ares).

Hephaestus stared up from his mobile screen. ''Hestia had just texted me. She said that the session starts today at 2:00pm. It's now 12:00. I guess we should grab lunch and get going now.''

* * *

 **A/N** : Thanks for reading! :D I'd like to give **Queen of Poptarts** a shoutout for reviewing my story, and **YoungPrinceLou** , **Rachell Lajara** , and **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** for the Favs! Your support is appreciated and is what keeps the words flowing!

Quick question for my readers: Where would you like to see the gods go next? Apart from therapy of course! ^^


	3. In Which They Go Out For Lunch

Lunch wasn't all that bad, Hades thought.

He was obviously forced and dragged in to these useless Olympus meetings, just because he contributed into saving the world a year ago. It didn't help his mood that it was just the start of spring, where Persephone left the Underworld and lived with her Mother. He didn't blame her for leaving - but he couldn't help but feel perpetually lonely after she did.

And now, he had to go to some stupid ''Therapy Session'' with his _so-called family_ to sort out their differences. He would rather be defeated by that upstart Jackson again before spending any amount of time with them, no matter how good it was for his ''wellbeing'', as Persephone had put it.

The gods were currently in a random mortal mall, and they were just trying to find a good food place to eat at. Unfortunately for him, the gods couldn't agree on a single thing, and that included food.

''We need to eat something vegetation! Green! You can never go wrong with wheat!'' Hades groaned — fortunately, not loud enough for the agricultural goddess to hear.

Artemis sighed and rolled her eyes. She spoke to her father. ''Why not go for some '' _classical_ '' hunting? I do not understand the love mortals have for stores and malls.''

They had to drag Aphrodite out of _all_ the fashion stores they passed, because she wanted to try on every single outfit. They had to ask Hera to stop Zeus from staring at the _manly-man's_ pinstriped tie and suit, and the manly-men/women in general.

On the other hand, Poseidon would absolutely freak out whenever he spotted a seafood emporium, and started babbling about the ''poor, innocent fish'' that were ''sacrificed'' by the ''cruel humans''.

He just hoped that their bickering wouldn't endanger any mortals. He knew that it was weird for him to say that, being the _Lord of Dead_ and all, but he honestly did not want more deceased souls at the reception, and he was still sorting out paperwork from the Titan War. He didn't need more work, thank you very much.

(Also, _Lord of Dead_ sounded like... one of those new-fangled ''video games'' that mortals would play, like _God of War._ Ares was enraged by that, but had graciously decided, after much beckoning, to not massacre the entire human population.)

Hades thought about summoning some lone spirits just for company, but he decided against it. He didn't need anymore souls entering his already-overcrowded realm — and he would risk that by giving mortals a few heart attacks when they saw... whatever they saw, through the Mist.

He grumbled some almost inaudible sentences and followed his siblings to the next store. ( _cough,_ restaurant, whatever.)

The mall was bustling with mortals. Many were entering into shops and leaving with handfuls of shopping bags, Children of many were running around unattended — some bawling with tears and with screaming that would be comparable to those of the Field of Punishment. Without a doubt, it was chaotic.

Hades knew that even the Underworld wasn't at least this chaotic. He groaned and tried to keep up with his siblings (which wasn't hard, considering how they were arguing and literally going into every single store and out…)

 **NEXT:** The Olympians stop by a Candy Shop…

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello! Thanks for stopping by and reading! :D The actual ''therapy'' part will be coming up soon, and I'm really excited to see what you guys will think about it! **  
**

I'd like to thank **Queen of Poptarts (again!)** and **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** for the ideas on what the gods should do next. You'll see your ideas appear in this fic in a few chapters :D I would also like to thank **Aniwaz** for the encouragement, I really appreciate it!

All of your favourites and alerts are taken in with grace; **Queen of the Rings,** **YoungPrinceLou,** **Rachell Lajara** **(and of course** **Queen of Poptarts and** **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl)** , thanks for supporting my story!

Quick question for all of you: What pairings should I insert into this story? :) No guarantees, but I'll try my best! :D


	4. In Which They Buy Candies

''Oh my gods. Look at the colours!'' Aphrodite squealed, as the Olympians mentally prepared to physically drag her out of another Fashion Shop.

Until they realised that it wasn't a Fashion Shop.

It was a candy store.

Demeter let go of Aphrodite's left arm. Miraculously, the Agriculture goddess seemed interested in something _other_ than her cereal for once. ''Oooh,'' she said, glancing at the indeed colourful store.

''Dylan's Candy Bars,'' Apollo read. ''Sounds good. The logo could use some shining up, though!''

Artemis swatted her brother in annoyance, but did indeed look over to Dylan's Candy Bars. ''Huh,'' she said. The four circles in the logo looked suspiciously similar to her archery shooting targets. If only they changed the colours a little…

''Get in here!'' the Argiculture goddess said, which was an unnatural remark from someone who usually obsessed over cereal.

Slowly, the remaining Olympians who weren't in charge of dragging Aphrodite away from the shops shuffled in.

''Look at the Gummy Bears!'' was the first thing Ares said as he entered the store. The store was magnificent—large, imposing, with vibrant colours and most importantly of all, _had_ _loads of candies._

''There's literally a chocolate fountain!'' Apollo marvelled to Hermes, who was busy stuffing his bag with lollipops.

Zeus was gazing longingly at the rows of chocolate bars, as Hera inspected each chocolate bar carefully, as if she was pondering whether if one of the chocolate bars was secretly one of Zeus' lovers in disguise. (She couldn't forget about the Io incident.)

Hephaestus was complementing the candy dispenser design to one of the employees, which was an incredibly rare move from the ingenious inventor.

Athena was staring down at the fudge like it was her mortal enemy.

Poseidon was making little water displays in the drinks.

Dionysus was busy stuffing his mouth with Strawberry Pop Rocks as he washed it down with his complementary Chardonnay.

And of course, Demeter was in the checkout line, having already bought dozens of Fruity Pebbles Donuts.

Even the Lord of the Dead had to grudgingly appreciate the sweet Candy Store, despite how much the rainbow colours hurt his sight.

The entire management staff was staring at Aphrodite, who was currently squealing with a fevour that either meant that 1) She was gonna make the shop her new godly palace, or 2) Artemis had finally gotten together with Orion.

''I'm the patron this shop!'' the Love goddess declared. ''None of you can stop me!'' Then, she turned and marched up to the confused store manager as she ratted off the benefits of installing a temple dedicated to Aphrodite within the shop, which would bless them with love, swans, and lettuce.

Hermes scowled as he dispensed candy into his messenger's bag. ''Damnit, I wanted to do that!''

Apollo patted on his friend's back and shook his head. ''Aye, it's just not worth it my friend. You don't want to mess with her, trust me on that.'' He let out a dramatically long, forlon sigh as he took a box of S'mores Chocolate Bars to the checkout.

Artemis neared Hermes, a plastic bag of packaged Chocolate Cake-Pops for her Hunters hanging from her shoulder. ''Sorry. He's been like that since Daphne was turned into a tree by Gaia.''

Hermes nodded in understanding, although in reality he was stuffing his bag with Marshmallow Cremés and not really paying attention to what Artemis had said.

In the corner of the shop, where the full view of all the Olympians were present, Hestia smiled, seeing her family getting along for once.

''SHUT UP, APOLLO! THAT CANDY BAR IS MINE!''

She sighed. Or maybe not.

* * *

A/N: Hello! Thanks for catching up :D I was really surprised by the overwhelming messages I got from this fic! :) I really appreciate all of your support!

Really appreciate **King Genocide** for your informative review; and I want to thank **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** and **Queen of Poptarts** for your continuous support! :D I won't be putting any Pothena in this, though there will probably be hints towards Hades/Persephone, Hephaestus/Aphrodite and maybe flashbacks to Artemis/Orion. :)

Thank you all for the favs/follows: **Deathscythex** , **Javiera944** , **Olivia Sandor** , **Queen of the Rings** , **blueanchor92** , and **padfootl0ve**! Your support is appreciated!

Quick question for you all: _Where should the gods go for lunch?_

a. McDonalds!

b. KFC

c. None, just get on with the therapy already!


	5. In Which They Debate (About Food)

''OLYMPIANS!'' Zeus' voice boomed across the mall, which, for some surprising reason, the mortals didn't notice. Maybe they were, too, used to random people screaming at their sisters/wives/sons/daughters. ''THE NEXT RESTAURANT ANY YOU POINT YOU WILL BE THE ONE WE'RE GOING TO. NO MORE ARGUING!''

The gods were all silent. Zeus expected a suggestion to be blurted out at any given time, but surprisingly, a long stretch of silence followed. It was as if they were actually _considering_ and _thinking_!

Finally, a grumpy voice broke the silence. ''We should try this restaurant.'' said Hades, grunting as he spoke, as he pointed at a store nearby. As Zeus and the other gods stared at the _restaurant_ his brother proposed, their eyes grew wide in disbelief along with the typical comical facial expressions—eyes widening, jaws dropping—the lot.

Hermes was the first to recover, but his eyes bulged out of its sockets as he stared at Hades. ''Y-you want us to eat at…'' he couldn't manage to finish his sentence, and honestly, Zeus didn't blame him.

''What?'' Hades replied with his usual gloomy tone.

 _Well…_ Zeus thought. _It isn't everyday when your local god of the Underworld suggests to eat at McDonalds._

At their looks, Hades shrugged. ''You all couldn't agree on anything. Let's just get in here and call it a day.''

Hermes' eyes were as wide as eggs. Hades knew, because he and Persephone nearly ate them every single day. (His meat-cattle was for dinner). ''Y-you want us…'' Hermes started, but yet again couldn't finish his sentence.

''To go to McDonalds.'' Hera stated flatly. She looked at the staring Olympians. ''What? You all can see the sign up there.'' At this point, she pointed at the huge glowing yellow M right above her head. ''No need for the tension.''

''Mhmm…'' Zeus mumbled, clearly distracted. But suddenly, he straightened up. ''Alright everyone. You heard the Queen of Heavens. Let's go.''

But suddenly, an inexplicable scream pierced the air.

''I want KFC!'' Ares wailed, as the situation that manifested upon him became apparent.

Zeus looked to his son, then back at Hades, and back to Ares again. He let out a small grumble. _Son or not, I should've thrown him off Olympus a millennia ago._

Ignoring the thought of what a blissful reality it could have been, Zeus clapped his hands, only _slightly_ glaring at his son. ''Alright! Voting time. It's a democracy here. Raise your hand if you want to go to KFC.''

Seven hands raised in the air. To his surprise, among them included Artemis, Athena and Hephaestus.

''And… who wants McDonalds?'' All the ''first-generation'' gods raised their hand—which included Demeter, Hades and Hestia.

At the unruly sight of hands, the Agriculture goddess sighed dramatically. ''McDonalds has a vegetarian option! You all are haters!'' complained Demeter. Suddenly, she draped her arm on the uncomfortable god of the Underworld, which was indeed an unusual sight to behold. ''I can't believe how old we've gotten. They don't even _enjoy_ McDonalds anymore! This new generation of millennials…''

''Actually, KFC was founded in 1930, while McDonalds was founded in 1955. At the weird looks shot to him from the Olympians, Hephaestus shrugged. ''What? I'm a fan of both. I'm just pointing out the facts. It's not really that _old…_ ''

Zeus was having a headache. He personally wanted to go to McDonalds, since he had fond memories of the place— _ah, the golden time when Hera shut up—_ but he didn't want to upset his sons and daughters, which would potentially lead to more sulking, pain, and a future headache.

He leaned towards his trusted advisor, Athena, who was busy tapping on her phone.

''How shall we sort this out, daughter?''

Athena shrugged, her eyes still glued onto her phone. ''Since the votes are even, why don't we split in half? Father, you and Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia and Aphrodite can go to McDonalds. The rest of us will go to KFC.''

The Olympians nodded furiously, each of them nodding at each other like they were saying, _of course we knew that!_

''Of course! Why didn't I think of this— _ah,_ I mean, _obviously_ , daughter!'' Zeus smiled as he puffed up with an air of self congratulatory pride.

''Yes! I'm so smart!'' crowed Apollo, which garnered a glare from Athena.

''What do you think we are, idiots?'' scowled Ares.

''Yeah!'' The Olympians chorused. A few of them even sent Athena the stink-eye.

Athena sighed. There was no saving this family, was there?

* * *

Hello, and thanks for catching up! :D I really appreciate all the support you all gave me (which was even more than before?! How is that possible? xD)

I have to thank **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , **padfootl0ve** , **Queen of Poptarts** , **Guest Girl** (whoever you are!), **Javiera944** , and **YoungPrinceLou** for voting! Your comments are my lifeblood and are VERY appreciated, they make me smile :D

Here are the voting results!

A. McDonalds - _3 votes (now 4!)_

B. KFC - _2 votes_

C. Therapy - _1 vote_

McDonalds is an obvious win— but at the time when I saw the votes, it was a tie. So I decided to do both! :D Obviously you'll see more in the next chapter, and I hope you liked :)


	6. In Which They Eat Fried Chicken

''I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN!'' Apollo and Hermes yelled as they rushed down the malls as they ran for the nearest KFC.

Artemis groaned. Sometimes catching up with them felt like she was trying to catch the Ceryneian Hind. They were both light, fast, and practically impossible to follow/kill.

''Wait up!'' yelled Athena. But by then, the gods were long gone and out of earshot. She sighed for what was the twelfth time of the day. ''There's literally a KFC… right beside us.''

But nope. They were long gone, leaving behind a trail of wind and curious mortals staring in the wake of the duo.

'' _Those idiots…''_ muttered Artemis under her breath. She turned to Athena, then to the KFC next to her. '''Least it'll be less crowded, I guess.''

* * *

If Hades thought that it was crowded in the mall, then this was a nightmare.

McDonalds was jam-packed with people. There were laughs and cheers all around, but most importantly—these people would _not_ shut up.

And he thought that the Asphodel Fields were bad enough.

Hades groaned, and tried to find an unseated-seat. To his surprise, there was none.

 _The horror,_ he thought.

The smell of death was strong in the Fast-Food Palace, to an extent where Hades almost couldn't even feel his own aura. He wondered if this was the reason why his son liked to summon the dead with Hamburgers and Fries.

He offhandedly wondered if it was worth all the paperwork to blast everyone here to oblivion, just for some peace and quiet. It wasn't that bad of an idea, and a few extra pieces of paperwork he could handle. But then, he imagined what Persephone would say in his mind. '' _Don't go around killing everyone. It's not very nice,''_ and Demeter's '' _we don't need more of the stench of the dead in here.'_ '

He couldn't have cared less about Demeter, but Persephone was his wife—and _no_ , he didn't need to go through the whole _''mother screams at god of Underworld for kidnapping her daughter''_ speech again. Wasn't very good for his health.

* * *

''Oh _no_ dude, I think we shrugged them off!''

Apollo and Hermes cackled gleefully, and high-fived each other. ''HELL YEAH!''

They grinned for a few blissful moments, as all they saw was each other, their surroundings, and nothing else.

''Wait a second…'' Hermes turned around, taking in their surroundings, and froze. Almost a bare whisper, he breathed: ''Dude… there's something wrong…''

Apollo, jolted out of his rejoice, stared alarmed at Hermes. ''What is it, bro?''

A sound suspiciously close to a sob wheezed from the back Hermes' throat. ''There's no KFC here…''

Their screams of '' _NO!''_ could be heard miles abound.

* * *

Hera was busy waiting for their food when she heard a gigantic _NO_ echo in the mall.

She furrowed her eyebrow. She should probably check it out, but she was too busy sipping the free water from McDonalds to care.

* * *

''Okay, what would you like to order…?'' Athena scratched her head as she stared at the menu, along with a disgruntled Dionysus, a bored Artemis, a frustrated Ares, and a tinkering Hephaestus.

''Hmm… my preference would be the Spaghetti with Fries combo, but it's up to you,'' Artemis suggested. She squinted at the menu.

''Just get a bucket of Spicy Fried Chicken and get it over with!'' said Ares not-so-softly, causing a few glares from the surrounding mortals. _Huh_ , Athena thought. _Maybe that's why he's angry all the time._

''A bucket of fried chicken… alright,'' she managed to mutter to her War Counterpart. ''And the Spaghetti with Fries combo. What else?''

''Chicken A La King,'' Hephaestus offered offhandedly. At their stares, he shrugged, still tinkering with his mechanics. ''What? It's my go-to food.''

''Fair enough,'' Athena replied. She mentally noted down _A La King_ in her to-order list. She looked at the provided picture in the menu. It seemed tasty enough, and didn't appear to be incredibly unhealthy or anything.

Her eyes travelled to Dionysus, who had downed three whole bottles since they entered the premise. All the Olympians collectively stared at him, until his sullen eyes travelled from the bottle to meet them. ''What?''

''What would you like to eat?'' Athena tried to keep the irritation and sarcasm out of her voice, but alas, she failed spectacularly.

''I don't mind.'' Another swig of his bottle. He motioned towards Ares, who suddenly seemed a lot less annoyed. ''Hey, you. Pick for me.''

''HECK YES!' Athena's eyes bulged at the supposed War God's cry. Excitement overtook his crass features. ''ANOTHER BUCKET OF CHICKEN!''

''Okay…'' Athena really wasn't sure what else to say. ''Let's order?''

* * *

''For the love of my beard, stop complaining about the service!'' groaned Poseidon. He mentally debated whether if he should douse the gods in water, even to awaken them a little bit.

It was really stupid. At first Demeter complained about the ''small variety in vegetarian options'' with disapproval, then Hera complained about _''the lack of proper respect and service that one should give to a goddess''_ , and after that Aphrodite complained about how _''no one was complimenting her looks, like they were supposed to!''_ and Zeus complained about everyone else complaining, and it all descended from there.

Personally, he didn't understand the vendetta they had against McDonald's—after all, a moment ago they were all praising themselves for the love of McDonalds. It was like they were movie critics or something!

To be honest, Poseidon was just glad that they didn't sell anything related to fishes. It was a bit of a low-key _Demeter-loves-wheat-too-much-to-harvest-them_ episode, but fish lives were important! They shouldn't be sacrificed just to satisfy a mortal's appetite. And honestly, Poseidon was glad (and beyond proud) that McDonald's decided to adopt the ''no fishes killed'' ideal.

He decided to voice it out. Clearing his throat, he addressed the arguing Olympians:

''Although all of you may dislike McDonalds, I personally think it's a brilliant Fast-Food chain. After all, they are cheap, widespread—'' at the glares of a few passing employees, he coughed. ''What I _meant_ _was,_ they are _vegetarian-friendly_ , are trying to be _more_ healthy, and the best of all…'' Poseidon grinned happily. ''They don't kill fishes!''

He expected the Olympians to let out a round of applause at his speech, but they just stared at him, bewildered. Aphrodite raised a hand.

He was a bit irritated that Aphrodite decided to interrupt his upcoming round of applause, but nevertheless he nodded to the goddess of Love. ''Yes?''

Was it just him, or did Aphrodite smile coyly? ''You do realise that they sell Fish O' Fillet Burgers, yes?''

And it was in that instant when Poseidon's smile was drained off his face, and was replaced with something else. Something dark. Something scary.

And the Olympians wisely decided that this was not the time to mess with him, and went with the round of applause.

* * *

Thanks for catching up! I'd like to thank you all for your reading, reviews and support—it means a lot! :D About this chapter: Like mentioned last chapter, since the votes were even for both McDonalds and KFC when I was tallying, I chose to write for both—and this is the (part 1 / 2) end result!

Here are the _updated_ votes (phew!):

A. McDonalds - _5 votes_

B. KFC - _2 votes_

C. Therapy - _2 votes_

 **Queen of Poptarts** , **Meistar** , **Blueprincess101** , and **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** \- thank you for your reviews and support throughout! :D I'd also like to thank everyone who's fav'd/follow'd/read the story (obviously!) :D

The next chapter will be about McDonalds / KFC, and the chapter after that we'll officially start with what you all came here for—the Gods go to Therapy! Regarding Guest Girl's suggestions on the identity of the Therapist (thanks for the suggestions btw!) — I won't disclose who it is, but I do have to say that it will be _a bit like_ an OC. But not _really_...


	7. In Which Zeus Glares At Everyone

''Gotta love the food!'' Hephaestus heard Ares' muffled yell he munched down on the chicken.

''Wow, the ice cream's cheap!'' Dionysus said. Hephaestus glanced lazily at the Wine God. Was it just him, or did Dionysus' eyes begin to water? ''There's…'' a sniff. ''—even a wine flavour…''

''Alcoholic,'' he heard Artemis murmur under her breath. He would be inclined to agree, but a) Dionysus was his friend, b) he was too busy tinkering to comment on anything, and c) he liked to remain sane, thank you very much.

He embedded an automatic fingerprint recogniser into the keys he was tinkering with. Nothing special, really; all he was doing was working on an upgraded impenetrable, unfakeable, irreplaceable key for his forge. Just in all day's work.

Ever so often, he scooped up some Chicken A La King as he tinkered with his left hand. He stole a look at the eating Olympians. Artemis was twisting spaghetti in her fork. Athena was sipping Coke. Ares was devouring his Spicy Chicken Wings. Dionysus was busy getting drunk off his ice cream.

 _Families got along nice,_ Hephaestus concluded, _when there was food involved_.

* * *

The Olympians were content.

Demeter was enjoying her Vegetarian Burger. Hades was gulping down a Happy Meal, much to Demeter's astonishment. Hestia was sipping water from a cup Hera gave her. Hera was nibbling on Chicken Nuggets. Poseidon was furiously shaking his Shake-Shake Fries. Zeus was devouring a Double Cheeseburger™, and Aphrodite was nibbling on Hera's bowl of Chicken Nuggets as she made random mortals fall in love for her amusement.

''Ah…'' Hades said, as he gulped his Happy Meal down. After licking his lips and making sure for the sixth time that his food was _truly_ finished, he leaned back and sat contently, staring at the lines of mortals waiting for their food.

To be completely honest, the Happy Meal tasted much better than your typical meat-and-eggs meal in the Underworld. Not even his sacred Cows could live up to these above-world miracles they call _meat patties!_

All in one, it was soundly delicious.

He almost let out a disgruntled sigh at the thought of the food he'd have to eat once he returned to the Underworld. No more Happy Meals. No more Corn Cups. No more French Fries.

It just couldn't _be._

And it was there and then when Hades ordered for McDonalds to be delivered to the Underworld at 10:00, stat.

 _I'm making my son proud,_ the Lord of the Underworld thought _._ _Wait until he hears this…_

After Zeus had gobbled down his fourth order of Double Cheeseburger under 3 seconds, he let out a long, loud burp and sat back. His competition with himself reminded him of his Cup-Bearing days, where he held drinking competitions for Kronos. Ah, the face Kronos wore once he realised Zeus spiced his nectar with hot-chilli-peppers, and not ice cubes!

It was almost nostalgic, Zeus thought. Aside from the fact that there was nothing nostalgic about the Titan War and their first revolution in all of history. In fact, he was glad that it's been so long, that Kronos was banished by that Demigod Jackson and long gone. It was nice to have some peace and quiet (without Hera screaming in his ear) for once.

During the ''Fish O' Fillet'' incident, Poseidon had marched up to the counter and demanded to know where they were importing the fish from. The employee had called their manager, and after a lengthly explanation about the wild-caught Alaska Pollock, they told Poseidon that they couldn't get him Fish O' Fillet even if they wanted to anyway because they were all sold out.

Thankfully, the Lord of the Seas didn't take it the wrong way (because if the Fish O' Fillet was sold out, that meant that mortals ate and killed more fish), but accepted it as an Olive Branch.

Demeter couldn't even remember why she complained about the Vegetarian Burger in the _first_ place. That was how good it was. Demeter almost forgot about her woes just by _munching_ on the burger. The celery… the tomato… the bread… it was a combo of the generation!

All the gods had only one complaint, though. _Why didn't Zeus tell them about McDonalds earlier?!_

* * *

Aphrodite sauntered into the Therapist's Office.

Immediately, ten of them fainted. The other half was a sweating mess.

She looked at Zeus, who was just coming in. ''Are we at the right place?''

* * *

''Apollo, I told you for the _last_ time not to curse the Therapists to eternal suffering,'' Zeus scowled. He seemed especially grumpy, which was probably because of the paramedics, two guilty Olympians, one very sick Therapist, and the bundle of chaos going on.

His son looked sheepish for a moment, but that was quickly covered up with bravado. ''Hey, it's not my fault that he insisted that my _lil sis_ was older than me!''

''It's on you that you decided to curse him with Smallpox,'' muttered his daughter. ''And I _am_ older than you.''

Zeus glared at his son, and then at his daughter, for good measure.

''If I hear another _peep_ of an argument out of you two, I'll take away your powers for so long that by the time I give it back to you, I'll have made up with Hera!''

Artemis began to protest, but a swift glare shut her up as he stomped off to where his brother Hades was at.

Upon his arrival, Hades, who was busy force-feeding the mortals Lethe water, grunted. ''This's the last time I'm getting Lethe water for you, Zeus.'' He scowled. ''No more.''

Zeus sighed. But he _needed_ the Lethe water for the mortals! It just didn't feel right; leaving their fragile mortal minds spontaneously combusting after they barged in and said: _Hi! We're the Olympians and we booked a session!_

The new means of a headache began to rise. ''Fine!'' he said, smoothing out his beard, as he stomped off yet again.

''OLYMPIANS!'' He boomed. All the heads whipped towards him at once, including the mortals.

''FOR THE LOVE OF MY BEARD, STOP YELLING/INJURING/MAIMING THE THERAPISTS JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE WHAT THEY WERE SAYING! ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL PERSONALLY THROW YOU ALL INTO TARTARUS!''

He made sure to growl (and glare) at everyone as he said it, so they knew to take him seriously.

A hand rose into the air.

He cleared his throat. ''Yes?''

''But didn't you maim Therapist #3 precisely for that fact?''

Zeus huffed. ''They said I _cheated too much on my wife_ , okay? There's nothing funny about that.''

Another hand rose in the air. It was Athena's. Annoyance prickled on his skin, but nevertheless he said: ''Yes?''

''If we don't want the Therapists to spontaneously combust— or if we don't want to waste Lethe water anymore—'' she stared sternly at Hades as she said it, ''—shan't we use a _secret identity_? That would prevent most of the problems, and this chaos we have right now.'' To prove her point, she gestured towards the wailing Therapist, the paramedics, the stretcher and the mortals starting at them.

''Hmmm…'' Zeus frowned. ''But that won't be nearly as interesting as what we would have now!''

All the Olympians groaned at his statement.

''Alright, _fine_!'' Zeus said. ''We'll have secret identities.''

After a few good moments, he glared at Hermes and Apollo, who were gleefully discussing something about _Batman_ and _Superman_. That shut them up.

As an afterthought, Zeus added: ''No killing the Therapist either,'' he said, glaring at Demeter as he said it.

The Agriculture goddess shrugged. ''What? He advocated meat-eating!''

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! :) Next chapter'll be about Therapy (finally!) and... yeah!**

 **My thanks to Meistar, procrastinatingmushroomfangirl, and Queen of Poptarts for your continuous support! And all of you faver's/followers/readers—I appreciate you taking the time to read this! :'D**

 **Quick Question: What would you like the Gods to discuss about in Therapy?**


	8. In Which They Go To Therapy (Finally!)

Their sixth Therapist seemed _way_ too cheery, Artemis thought.

She held a huge, fake-friendly smile as the Olympians walked in, greeting them with a _Dr. Quinzel_ and shaking each and every one of their hands over-enthusiastically to the surprise of the divine gods, considering that she hadn't spontaneously combusted yet from their divine touch. Added to the fact that she didn't _mind_ taking on their case, what with all the _mysterious disappearances_ and all.

To Artemis, that only added to her list of suspicions. She was wary; being a Huntress for more than a millennia had heightened her senses. She wasn't used to just simply walking into mortal buildings and she was used to trusting her instincts. Her instincts told her that this _so called Therapist_ was not a good person, but she refrained from doing anything her instincts told her to do (i.e. take her bow out and nock an arrow and demand who she was)

She was more than uncomfortable about the way her blonde hair was curled up to its ends and dropped down again. Or how her hair seemed to be moving at its own accord, like a watching, hissing snake, waiting to strike…

Suddenly, she felt warm hands around her shoulders. ''Artemis, it's okay. It's not… _her_.''

He spoke _her_ in a hushed, quick tone, as if he was afraid of invoking _her_ presence.

Even with her brother confronting her, she still couldn't shrug off what her instincts told her. So instead, so to not worry him, she opted to return his touch in the slightest, and for good measure, sent a dagger-like glare to his head.

''I'm fine,'' Artemis murmured, even if she was feeling anything but, and swatted his hand away. Apollo let it slide, and she saw the end of a smirk eat at his face.

 _I'll get him later, I swear…_

* * *

''So!'' she began in a cheerful tone, aware of how they all sat awkwardly on their chairs. Clasping her hands together, Dr. Quinzel opted for a smile, and levelled her eyes at the family crowd. ''What can I do for you?''

''Well…'' a guy with an electrifying beard— the leader of the group, she assumed— began in a grumbly tone. Dr. Quinzel waited expectantly for a follow-up, only to hear none.

''We're all held here against our will, we've just had a taste of the disgusting artificial mortal food of yours, and we're hoping that a mere mortal like you can fix our family,'' a guy that smelt of death offered, which ended up with a lot of _shushes_ and glares from the various members of their family.

Hestia, the lady with the fiery-red hair who booked the session, seemed to fold on into herself. Several members reached out to comfort her, and Dr. Quinzel tried her best to keep her cool.

She'd never really liked awkward family situations, and _this_ particular family situation would take the trophy of being the awkwardest of all. Dr. Quinzel wasn't well-rehearsed in this particular area of therapy, and really, who could blame her if a certain Dr. Isley decided to go full-on out with the _eco-friendly_ and left her with the lunatics?

But, okay. Dr. Quinzel was fine with that.

Swivelling her head to face back towards the family, who was already bickering incoherently, she gathered her composure, stacked the papers of identifications and records, and began her session.

''Alright, so… what can you tell me?'' Dr. Quinzel asked brightly, making sure to keep the smile on her face. ''Aside from what your brother,'' she glanced quickly at the identification papers, '' _Hades_ has already told me.'' Dr. Quinzel made sure to make a mental note to add _grumpiness_ and _slight_ _insanity_ to Hades' diagnosis.

There were a few mumbles amongst the crowd, until one of them, the guy on the left with a trickster's face began. ''So! We're basically a dysfunctional family, as you may see,'' he gestured at the rest of their familes as they scowled at him. ''And we work in a, er, _factory._ Wood factory,'' he added, after she tilted her glasses for elaboration.

Dr. Quinzel felt a bit glad that Dr. Isley wasn't here. She would probably try to murder them for just owning a Wood Company.

Not actually _murder_ , of course. But maybe a stern telling-off or something alike. She'll probably still pass the case to her either way… so it wouldn't matter?

She tried to shake off her annoyance on receiving this case. Though she couldn't blame the five Therapists before her for _mysteriously quitting._

 _Focus, Quinzel_.

''These three—'' Hermes pointed at Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, ''—are the heads of the wood company. So long story short, after overthrowing their tryant father Kronos—'' Dr. Quinzel glanced at him quizzically, which he then quickly added: ''—who didn't pay the workers wages, stole their food, that type of thing. Anyway after they overthrew him—'' a few worried looks from the family were cast towards her, as if they were worried about her reaction.

''—they held a lottery, and Zeus got the CEO paperwork job, Poseidon got the head of wood construction, and Hades got the short end of the stick, which meant he got to work as—'' he glanced quickly at Hades, ''—the head of the people doing the grunt-work-thing, which really was the short end of the stick because he had to watch over dead guys— I mean, watch over the workers working _like_ dead guys. Haha,'' Hermes laughed weakly.

Dr. Quinzel noticed that some of the family members were squirming in their seats, mostly in embarassment and… fear? She made a mental note on that.

''Long story short, half of us are the daughters and sons of Zeus and the rest are the Big Three's sisters. Which of course by ''the Big Three'' I mean Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Totally nothing special about that!''

A woman with auburn hair and silver highlights coughed awkwardly. ''Uh, Hermes…'' she said, as she made a discreet ''stop'' sign with her hands. Dr. Quinzel raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing about it.

Hermes didn't seem to notice, though, because he continued to babble: ''So… I'm the son of Zeus, sales guy at your service,'' then he gestured over to the others across the room, ''—Hephaestus over there is in charge of the machinery, Athena is the ideas and design manager, Artemis is the environmental protection, Apollo is the bright guy—'' at this point, he encountered a load of glares from his family members, ''—as in, he manages the money and everything.''

He continued despite the many signals coming from his family members telling him to stop. Dr. Quinzel raised her eyebrow at all of them, and mentally noted it down twice. ''Zeus' wife, Hera, is like, the, uh, Co-CEO of the company, Dionysus is the wine dude, Ares is the bodyguard man for, er, executing Athena's ideas, Demeter is the, uh, cafeteria lady,'' a glare was shot to Hermes from Demeter, ''Aphrodite is the _lov_ —'' Hermes suddenly had a coughing fit. ''—the _consultant,_ and Hestia keeps the Hearth—er, of which I mean that she watches over us and makes sure that we aren't overworking or anything.''

''Alright.'' Dr. Quinzel raised her voice, aware of the outburst that was going to ensure from the family. What was it with them? It was as if their family history was a controversial topic or something. ''Thanks, Hermes, for informing me about your family's occupation. Now, would anyone else like to add something? Anything?''

There was no response even after waiting patiently for three minutes. Instead, she saw Artemis and Apollo resuming their hushed bickering _(close, but strained relationship?)_ , Zeus twiddling his fingers as Hera scowled at him _(past infidelity? anger/annoyance/fear?),_ Hephaestus quietly tinkling with a few wires of metal _(left out? alone?),_ Aphrodite giggling incoherently _(excitement? has something planned?),_ Ares was grinning as he fumbled with the buttons on his phone _(addiction?),_ Demeter glaring at Hades _(past/unresolved conflict?),_ Athena staring ahead with a mask of stone _(something to hide?)_ and Dionysus drinking _(something to forget?)_

 _There was so much to unravel. And they have yet to say anything._

''So…'' she said testily, although her brain was screaming at her to yell: _PLEASE NO MORE ARGUING!_ ''Is there anything else you can tell me about your father?''

Immediately, she noticed that most, if not all of the family members stiffened. A few coughed, as some others appeared to be choking on water, though no water was present.

Mentally, she noted down: _Trauma from Kronos? No more interaction with father. Dead? Disappeared?_ She would have to add that into her notepad later.

Dr. Quinzel glanced up at the family again. Most of them seemed to have recovered from their episodic _no water_ situation, and were now glaring daggers at her. A few had an itching look in their eye, as if they wanted to blast her to oblivion.

Not that they could, right?

She laughed nervously. _Touchy subject, then._

After their glares lessened in fervour, Dr. Quinzel tried to analyse what the family had told her so far. Except for the fact that they seemed to be birthed from insanity themselves, and that they had a lot to hide, she didn't have anything to write about.

Which, okay. She was fine with that. She had a few bumps with insanity as well.

But this family was beyond her. ''I hope you do understand that I cannot help you unless you tell me the problem.''

Another three minutes passed without a sound.

Dr. Quinzel sighed, and mentally scribbled down, _emotionally dysfunctional, family is practically mute. Unwilling to say anything. Aside from family history._

Dr Quinzel let out a huge sigh, and stared at the family of twelve in front of her. Plastering a big, bright smile on her face, she said: ''Well! Since you all are _unwilling_ to share with your Therapist, I suppose that the only recommendation I can give you is to enjoy some _family-time_ at Disney World to talk out your problems! And remember:''

Her facial expression turned dangerously dark, as she finally let out what was in her mind for so long. _''NO ARGUING!''_

She clapped her hands. The family seemed momentarily stunned at what she'd just said. ''Session's over! Time to go! And don't forget your assignment!''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for catching up! I'd like to thank **King Genocide** , **Blueprincess101** and **Draconic king** for your reviews—and I'd like to especially thank **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** and **Queen of Poptarts** for your ideas! ;D

Another quick question: What would you like to see in the Therapy sessions?


	9. In Which They Enter Disney World

They arrived at Disney World.

''So… this is it,'' Zeus grumbled. He was wearing sunglasses, a pinstriped tie and suit, and sipping Coke in the glaring sun.

''Why is it so shiny?'' Apollo groaned, staring at the sky. ''Oh wait.'' He stopped. ''That's me.''

Artemis sighed. ''Now we all have to suffer, thanks _brother,''_ she said sarcastically.

'' **WAIT!** STOP!'' Zeus yelled, causing the gods and all the mortals around them to freeze. Apollo & Artemis seemed particularly terrified. ''Don't you remember what the Therapist said? _NO ARGUING!''_

''Awww, man.'' groaned Apollo.

Artemis too sighed and shook her head. ''Why does anything the Therapist says matter anyway? It's not as if we're actually going to _get along…_ '' she stared meaningfully at Apollo, who returned with a classic: ''w _hat?''_

''It matters…'' Zeus gritted out, under his breath, ''… because we don't want to disappoint Hestia. Do you?'' _Or disobey my pseudo-orders,_ but he didn't add that in.

Apollo lowered his head, ashamed. Artemis seemed a little regretful as well.

Thankfully, Hestia was at the back of all the Olympians, so she didn't hear what Zeus said.

''ATTENTION!'' Zeus shouted, clearing his throat. Addressing the Olympians, he said: ''Here are your compulsory to-do lists to do inside Disney World. REMEMBER, YOU HAVE TO FILL IT IN! Or else…'' his pupils darkened, and the Olympians wisely decided not to question him further.

One the list was this:

 _\- Rollercoaster_

 _\- Arcade Games_

 _\- An Exhibition_

 _\- A Booth Game_

 _JuST BE PRODUCTIVe AND FOR THEL OVE OF_ _tHE MANY gODs_ _dONT sQUABBLE_

''Huh,'' muttered Athena. She pulled out a Disney World Map, which she'd gotten from one of the shelves that were stacked with leaflets. ''Let's go to the places in chronological order. We can finish the To-Do's as a family, to waste as little time as possible. I'm sure that most of you won't like to stay here for especially long—'' Athena averted her eyes from the glaring Sun. ''—wasting _more time than nessessary.''_

* * *

Turns out, they ended up wasting _more time than nessessary._

They left Poseidon at the _Sea Base,_ which was basically a place of Water Performances and Aquariums, with Zeus deliberately keeping the ''how they train their water animals'' part out of it. He ticked off _Exhibition_ off his list with ease.

They rode a rollercoaster that made Hera scream like a baby. Then, they decided to ride a few more, for the sake of making Hera scream like a baby. Zeus added four more ticks next to the _Rollercoaster_ checkbox.

They played in the Arcade Centre for awhile, before Zeus got bored and decided to short-circuit everything in there. The faces on the mortals were priceless when they realised that everything was down! (Though they did have to endure the subsequent Arcade shutdown and pseudo-interrogation from the Disney World staff about the _accidental_ Arcade Failure. Not that they had to do anything with it, of course!)

Zeus added a X and a frowny face to that one, scribbling down: _''Arcade Failure''_ next to it with some aggressive smileys.

They went to the _Fun & Games _booths, where Artemis excelled in the archery sessions as Hermes stole all the prizes. The booth manager panicked once he realised he had no prizes to offer, and in a plea offered that money he earned to cover the ''winnings'' that Artemis won from the game. She took it with a smirk.

Zeus added three checkmarks, and drew a heart symbol over all three of them. He always liked money, mortal or not.

They went to the Virtual Reality games, where Ares beat virtually everyone else and claimed the title _God of War._ Several mortals had looked on in awe, in which Ares boasted at and encouraged them to sacrifice to the War God for letting them _witness_ such godly play—mainly by screaming: '' _I'LL BEAT Y'ALL'S ASSES TO OBLIVION IF YOU DON'T SEND ME A PRAYER, STAT!''_

Zeus added multiple aggressive frowny face to that one, writing down in exaggerated cursive: _Ares hogged the playstation_.

* * *

''It was actually a fun day,'' admitted Poseidon, who was toying around with a plushie he bought from the Aquarium. ''The fishes loved me!''

Artemis was chatting (and boasting) about her points from the Archery Games. Apollo rebutted with a gloat of how he ''pleased the mortals'' by ''dimming the sun''.

Athena was scrutinising the checklist the Therapist gave them, especially the '' _JuST BE PRODUCTIVe AND FOR THEL OVE OF tHE MANY gODs dONT sQUABBLE''_ part. She wondered if it was part of some secret cipher, and if so, how she could decipher it.

Aphrodite was busy flirting with a group of passersbys, complete with some _''I can take you somewhere you've never seen before!''_ lines as she pointed ferociously at the various rides in the Disney World Map.

Hermes was pickpocketing the said group of passerbys as Aphrodite distracted them by pointing relentlessly at the Disney World Map.

Zeus was scrolling through his phone pictures of the short-circuited Arcade Center, which he intended to stick on Olympus. It was pretty funny.

Ares was screaming: ''YEAH! WAR GOD!'' as he pumped his fist and pointed to his newly-earned shirt.

Hephaestus was tinkering with something in his hand, in what suspiciously looked like a part took from the _Pirates and the Caribbean_ ride.

Hera was still white with terror from the ordeal she endured from riding four consecutive times on the most terrifying Rollercoaster of Disney World.

Dionysus was drunkenly introducing random strangers to the '' _wonders of wine''._ Needless to say, they were unimpressed.

Demeter was joyously recounting her eleven trips into the boat ride _It's A Small World After All!_

Hades was smiling gloomily, for once.

Hestia was watching over her family, with a brown fox under her arm (which Hermes had gave her), smiling at her family that was not arguing, for once.

* * *

 **A/N: Here's your typical ''thanks for reading!'' to all my readers/fav's/followers. I mean, for the thanks—you all know it! :D**

Anyway, I'd like to thank **Queen of Poptarts** , **Draconic king** , and **YoungPrinceLou** for your comments (and wonderful ideas)! :)

And **Queen of Poptarts,** about the Therapist being mysterious... I'm really glad you pointed it out! :D Hopefully we'll see more about that soon...

 _If any of you have any ideas/suggestions for the Olympians (and their therapy ideas), feel free to mention it in the comment box below! I'll see how I can incorporate it into the story. :D You're all welcome to PM me with any questions you might have, or comment it down below! Thanks again~_


	10. In Which The War Gods Fight

''So! How was it?'' Dr. Quinzel asked, extremely perkily.

The family was chatting among themselves happily.

''So, would I be correct to assume that it went well?'' Dr. Quinzel smiled. _Sending them to Disney World wasn't a total bad idea after all!_

Most of the family members grinned and nodded quickly, still chatting amongst themselves. Dr. Quinzel clapped her hands. ''Okay! Last week, I realised that our Group Therapy session didn't work very well—so I made a change to our _plans_. You all will have one on one sessions. Tell me anything— _all_ you want— it will be confidential! After that, we'll have the compulsory family-sitting-down time and bonding!''

Some of them shrugged. The others nodded along. One of them—Hades, the guy with the death-breath—said: ''Sounds alright. I guess I can volunteer to be the first.''

* * *

They entered into Dr. Quinzel's office.

It was a small box, enclosed with soundproof glass and slightly-tinted for privacy. Dr. Quinzel let Hades in, as she reached for his file.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at what she'd written about him. _Grumpiness_ and _slight_ _insanity_ didn't make for a good (and short) diagnosis.

''Well!'' Dr. Quinzel said brightly, as she gestured for Hades to take a seat. Her eyes travelled unconciously to the _Beginner Questions_ she had taped to her desk, just in case.

''What's your name?'' Dr. Quinzel recited.

''Hades,'' he gruffed out.

''Full name?''

''Hades… uh, Erebos.''

Dr. Quinzel filled in the _Last Name_ section in her Patient Profile.

''Did you enjoy your trip to Disney World?'' she asked as she mentally searched for more questions to ask him.

''Uh… I suppose so.''

''Do you have a wife or a son?''

''Yes.'' He seemed a bit sheepish at the question, but Dr. Quinzel motioned for him to continue. ''Ah… Persephone and my childre—my _child,_ Nico.''

Dr. Quinzel scribbled in _has a son and wife_ in his _Family Information_ section. For good measure, she added: _Tell him to bring his wife and/or son in next session._

''Any newfound loves/passions?'' asked Dr. Quinzel. Hades seemed indifferent to her question, but suddenly he exhaled and let himself a small gloomy smile.

''I've only recently discovered this Fast-Food chain named McDonalds. I suppose you may have heard of it?'' Dr. Quinzel nodded furiously. He exhaled happily, sighing with an aura that might seem like love. ''I wholly enjoy eating from that chain. From now on, I will only order from there—and there only!''

Dr Quinzel smiled. ''Well, that's very nice, Hades,'' she said while scribbling down: _only heard about McDonalds recently. Not in touch with mainstream._ After a few moments, she added down _and/or_ _life_ for good measure.

She called out. ''NEXT!''

* * *

Dr. Quinzel was having a hard time keeping up with Athena.

One moment Dr. Quinzel was asking Athena about her passions or interests, and she went on a five-minute long rant about Architecture, Trigonometry, and the Art of War (which was an unusual subject for a… _designs manager?_ )

Dr. Quinzel was getting tired of alien language Athena was babbling in. She offered a question, in an attempt to _stop her talk_ :''Anyone you particularly hate?''

''I _despise_ Ares,'' growled Athena to the Therapist. Suddenly, her fasination with Architecture was long gone, which sounded great for Dr. Quinzel but not so good since she could _tell_ Athena was getting into another rant. ''He's a do-no-gooder, a horrible counterpart—and particularly impossible to work with. I wish I could renounce his stupid title.''

The Therapist looked thinkative. On her notes, she wrote: _Hates brother. Doesn't pair well at work. Wants Ares to quit being Bodyguard and ideas-executioner person?_

Dr. Quinzel patted her papers. ''Thank you for cooperating with me, Athena.'' When the makings of another babble began to show, Dr. Quinzel yelled: ''NEXT!''

* * *

''Wheat is the best!'' beamed Demeter as she furiously scribbled down facts about her. _Veganism, advocation for Agriculture, love for food?_ was all down in the list.

''That's nice, Demeter,'' the Therapist encouraged. ''A good hobby is necessary for a happy life! And as it turns out—'' she took a quick glance at her notes, ''—you have all that's necessary to live a, _ah,_ fulfilling life!''

Demeter beamed. Suddenly, she addressed the Therapist: ''Do _you_ eat meat?'' She asked curiously… but for some reason, the innocence in her voice just didn't feel right.

''I, well… _sporadically_!'' She yelled out. Whatever compelled her to yell out was gone in an instant, as she watched her patient: Demeter's eyes seemed to change— _was that murder? Wow, she's even worse than Dr. Isley—''_ but-I-quit-eating-meat-a-long-time-ago!''

A calm presence seemed to wash over Demeter. Her dark glowing eyes switched back to their normal green. She beamed. ''Why, that's a wonderful choice! Very wise indeed!'' as the Agriculture-lover walked out before she could even say ''NEXT!''

* * *

''So, do you have anything you like? Food? Games?'' She offered to the drunk Dionysus, who was, for some reason, getting drunk off of his ice-cream. She guessed

Dionysus stared at her lazily. ''No.''

''Anything?''

''No—ah!'' Dr. Quinzel nodded at the drunkard encouragingly. ''I like Wine!''

She stifled a groan. ''NEXT!''

* * *

''Hera is my wife,'' Zeus stated, puffing up with pride. He was still proud of the time when he turned into a Cuckoo Bird and tricked Hera into saying _I love you._ Ah, those days!

''That's nice, Zeus…'' Dr. Quinzel smiled, but abruptly stopped. ''… wait. Isn't Hera your sister?''

Zeus turned pale.

Dr. Quinzel stared at Zeus. They'd really have to discuss that later when she was ready for that topic. ''Okay. NEXT!''

* * *

''I hate Athena!'' shouted Ares to the Therapist. The Therapist seemed visually terrified. ''I HATE HER GUTS. SHE DOESN'T LIKE THE MANLY-MAN, BLOODY BRILLIANCE OF WAR—er, BODYGUARDING!'' He screamed.

The Therapist had to wince. ''Uh, okay…'' she said as she scribbled down some notes: _Mutual hatred. FIX DISLIKE?_

 _Oh gods. He's rubbing off me. I'm using capitals._

* * *

''Okay!'' The Therapist said, addressing all the Olympians who sat in a circle. ''This exercise is here to _inform_ all of you what you may _dislike_ about each other—and we can improve yourself based on your family's opinions! Ready?''

She told everyone what was said.

* * *

The Therapist seemed terrified.

''Stop shooting projectiles at each other!'' the Therapist shouted, as she dodged behind a desk.

Overhead, the Olympians were fighting with destructive anger. Particularly Ares and Athena, who were currently raging at each other with an aura of the firey red flames of War.

''YOU CALLED ME AN IDIOT!?'' screamed Ares as he conjured a flame of red rage.

''BUT IT'S TRUE!'' screamed Athena back, who lifted Aegis from her back. ''COME FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!''

Ares' head popped up from the desk, saw the Medusa' head, wailed as he dropped his fiery fists in terror, and disappeared in a bright blood-red light.

The War Goddess huffed. Strapping back Aegis to her back, she addressed the Olympians: ''Someone go back to check on him. I'll be back soon.'' And with that, she disappeared in a swirl of dark red.

One could only wonder what the Therapist saw.

* * *

 **A/N:** Your thanks for reading/catching up, etc. :)

I'd like to thank **Queen of Poptarts** for your review—about the note, it's not necessarily that, but I do have plans for Athena soon...

And **King Genocide** & **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** \- character? what character? ;)

In all seriousness though, all of you in the comments section that predicted the Therapist's identity— :) it's meant to be a bit of an Easter Egg, but there will definitely be mentions to it soon.

What would you like to see next? Let me know!


	11. In Which They Mess Up

''Alright,'' Zeus said, breathing heavily once the fiasco was over. ''We gotta sort this out.''

The Therapist was unconscious, Hera was fuming, he could hear Ares' wails from Olympus (it was loud and annoying), Artemis and Apollo were arguing yet again, Hephaestus was trying to help everyone up, Dionysus was crying drunkenly about his smashed ice-cream (it was really annoying), and Hestia was sniffling silently from the back wall.

He had endured a beating verbal assault from Hera after she was informed about what Zeus had told the Therapist about her. Now, he was left looking at the ruined walls, scratched furniture, and shattered glass windows, wondering how they could fix it all.

Conclusion: They probably couldn't.

So that was how the Olympians found themselves, in various disguises, hiding from the authorities in the Empire State Building. Sadly, the manager with the 600th-floor key was held at bay enduring interrogation from the Police, which meant that they couldn't conveniently take the lift back to the 600th floor. Damnit!

Zeus coughed discreetly, as the Olympians huddled in a circle. ''We need to cool off. Everyone stay calm and blend in. If anyone questions you, shake heads and walk away. Stay cool, guys.''

The Olympians nodded fervently. ''Yes, stay cool,'' was heard amongst the murmurs of the Olympians as they shuffled inconspicuously through the Building.

After about ten minutes, Athena stopped the lot of them. She had returned to check up on the Olympians after going at a Round 2. with Ares on top of Olympus. She seemed like she wished she'd stayed on the 600th Floor. Eyeing the mortals surrounding them, who were staring at their getups cautiously, she whispered to the Olympians: ''Wait. Obviously, _this isn't working._ Let's disperse ourselves throughout the floors. That way, even if one of us get caught, it won't be the _all of us.''_

The Olympians nodded in dumb approval, and each of them separated into various groups as they strolled to the back of the lines of mortals lining up to take the lifts. On the way, Athena snatched a newspaper from a news-rack, as she read the title carefully: _ASSAULT ON MANHATTAN! DESTRUCTIVE TREES BLOCK TERRACE AND CARS!_

She sighed in relief. At least it wasn't detailed about the _unusual_ storm Typhon or accounts on the sleeping-Manhattan during the Titan War. But her eyes narrowed as she read through the article about trees.

* * *

''Let's go to the 102nd floor!'' yelled Apollo. He was strumming his guitar and dancing excitedly in the lobby, which wasn't _exactly_ a dealbreaker for the mortals lining up for the buildings.

''For someone that lives in the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, you sure do seem excited about traveling through the floors...'' commented Athena, but everyone else ignored her, as usual. She sighed, and tossed the newspaper away, which disappeared in a bright red light back that traveled her chamber. ''And like I said before, we have to disperse ourselves. We can't stay in one place, for risk—'' she shut up as a Security Guard passed by, ''— _of being found out._ ''

The Olympians nodded fervently, even though they were ignoring Athena just a moment earlier. She sighed, just in time for the lift as it _dinged_ as mortals shuffled in. Athena glanced sarcastically at the Olympians. ''Want to go disperse now?''

* * *

''Huh!'' said Hermes as he entered the lift for the 102nd floor. It was unusually tiny, and he had to wait in another line for it. Which, okay, was fine, since he could make mortals disappear—after all, he wasn't the Trickster god for nothing. However, he ended up waiting 30 minutes for the line to the 102nd floor, which was way longer than his siblings, who had traveled to other floors already. Added to the fact that random Police checkups were happening through the line, which _really_ didn't help his anxiousness.

Scratch that. It didn't help Athena's anxiousness, who was pacing around in the line, much to the annoyance of the mortals.

It took them around a minute to ascend to the 102nd floor. When they reached to the top, they realised that there was a glass enclosure preventing mortals from falling out of the building. In his opinion, it was rather unnecessary. After all, who would be stupid enough to lean out and fall through the building? Mortals had a sense of duty on preserving their fragile bodies, whereas it wouldn't matter for gods anyway! Most that would happen was that they'd end up like Hephaestus... Hermes immediately reeled in that thought. Yes, it was nice that they had glass windows, even though it tainted the view.

''Wanna leave?'' muttered Athena. ''This is... unimpressive.''

Hermes agreed with her. They waited for the 30-minute line to go back, as they descended back down to where they initially started.

* * *

''Wow…'' Apollo breathed out. He stared at the impeccable dusk that descended in the Manhattan skyline. ''It's—it's beautiful.''

In the back of his mind, he wondered: _why have I never been here before?_

Not even the sight of dawn or dusk he beheld from Helios' garage or onlooking from Mt. Olympus could compare to this.

''What did I tell you about the sight, brother?'' Apollo turned to see Artemis' wry smile on her face as she sauntered away from the entrance. ''It's beautiful, isn't it?''

After a moment, Apollo smiled cheekily. ''Want to see the dawn?''

She shook her head, but both of the siblings followed the 86/F's route west. They watched the spectacle, quietly, where dusk fell, with an awe that had only existed in their childhood.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! Sorry that this was a short-ish chapter, as I was getting work done for my other fics. :'D

Anyways, I'd like to thank Queen of Poptarts for the review (oh boy xD), and procrastinatingmushroomfangirl **f** or the ESB idea. I'll be posting more about it next chapter.


	12. In Which They Mess Up Some More

Dr. Quinzel groaned as she sorted out her papers. She had just woken up to a throbbing concussion, and when she was informed that the therapeutic family in session had left, she groaned. _Of course. Why wasn't she surprised?_

However, when the events from the hour surged back to her, she groaned a lot more frustrated this time. They had fought in the Therapeutic room. With glowing red fists and magically throwing things around.

 _I'm going insane._ Dr. Quinzel thought. _There's no way that actually happened, was there?_

To be fair, the moment the family walked in and introduced themselves _as the Greek gods_ should be the moment she realised that she had to start taking her meds again.

While she was lost in her thoughts, a police officer walked up to her. Gruffing, he said: ''Are you alright, madam?''

 _I need my meds, goddamnit._

''I'm totally fine,'' she muttered under her breath, which reassured absolutely no one. However, before they could question her further, she yelped: ''I have to go!'' and scurried away from the scene as she ran back to her Office for her medication.

* * *

''Okay…'' Zeus grunted at the Olympians in the Empire State Building lobby. Thankfully, the Police had dissipated by now, taking away their crime scenes and evidence with them. And it didn't even take an hour!

Mentally, he had to praise the mortal crime reinforcementers for the quick job done. It was nice to remain uncaught!

Since the Olympians were still staring at him, waiting for him to continue… he continued. ''Since the police are all gone—'' suddenly, a Mall Officer walked past him, glaring at him suspiciously. He shut up.

''—mostly _gone,_ who wants to go back to the 600th floor and call it a day?''

Twelve hands raised in the air, including Zeus' himself. At the show of hands, Zeus beamed with pride.

There was _supposed_ to be twelve hands in the air, but Ares was still wailing over on Olympus (really? All this time?), and someone else had abstained. That someone else was…

Hestia.

Hestia glanced at the family. He noticed that she seemed a little sad. Zeus felt a bit bad. He could understand that she wanted them to get together, agree and live like an _actual family_ would, but come on! As much as he hated to admit it, there was _no way_ any of them could get along together. Period.

Although they had a 1-hour session left, they trashed the Therapist's Therapy-place, so it wouldn't matter anyway… right?

Zeus felt really uncomfortable now. It should've been an easy choice— _it was twelve against one!_ But there was just something about Hestia's face that made him feel terrible.

He sighed, and put down his hand, much to the asotmishment of the other Olympians. ''Alright. We'll be going back to the Therapy session.''

Groans and yells of _why!_ came from the Olympians, but he shut them up with a glare. Hestia seemed happy.

He just hoped that the Olympians wouldn't make a riot.

* * *

''Are you ready for your sessions?'' said Dr. Quinzel as she packed up the papers. The Olympians were staring on awkwardly, especially at the ruined desks and paperwork. Dr. Quinzel didn't seem to notice—or if she did, she ignored it.

''Uhh... yes?'' offered Zeus. Dr. Quinzel nodded absentmindedly, preparing her papers. After a beat, she looked at the Olympians.

''Okay. We'll be _skipping_ the, _ah,_ _individual_ sessions due to what happened the last time...'' the Olympians squirmed uncomfortably. ''... so we'll be going directly into the Group Therapy Sessions. Everyone ready?''

* * *

''Any hobbies?'' asked Dr. Quinzel, a notepad ready on her lap. She hoped that her meds worked, and _really hoped_ that she didn't see flaming fists or magical floating desks ever again.

''I'm the best at Archery!'' boasted Apollo. ''It's my favourite hobby. I'm the best ever!''

''I disgress,'' said Artemis lazily. Dr. Quinzel's eyes switched from forth to back. ''I'm better at Archery than you. You never could shoot farther than half the globe.''

Dr. Quinzel wondered if she was hearing things, but then realised it was likely hyperbole.

''Nah,'' Apollo said in a singsong voice, largely irritating his sister. He winked. ''It was merely practice. I could beat you any day!''

''Stop denying in. I'm better at archery than you,'' growled Artemis at Apollo. Suddenly, her eyes focused on the Therapist. ''What do you think?'' she asked her, but it sounded like an accusation, rather than, you know, _polite asking_...

Dr. Quinzel looked back and forth between the twin Archers. For some reason, she felt like it would be wise not to vouch for either of their archery skills. ''Uhh…'' She was about to suggest an Archery Competition, but she decided that it wasn't worth the risk. She didn't want the crazy Archers using her head as the bullseye.

''So…'' she gave a glance to the rest of the family members. ''Who do you think shoots better…?''

The family squirmed at her question, clearly uncomfortable with her the question like she was.

A beat passed. She took an awry glance to the Clock and her notes. The tension in the room was so thick that you could slice it with a knife.

Suddenly, Apollo burst into a song. Gloating, he said: ''Of course I can shoot better than her. I'm the Archery god!''

A moment passed.

All the Olympians stilled. Some of them were shocked; the rest was stunned. Others, like Zeus, looked like he was filled with rage.

Apollo cupped his hands over his mouth, sweat trickling from his brow and fear in his eyes. But all of the Olympian's eyes weren't on him—no, they were on the Therapist, who were staring at them like they'd all went insane.

''Wait… _Archery god?!''_ Dr. Quinzel's mouth fell open. ''You must be kidding me…''

But just by looking at the family's faces, she knew it was no lie.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for reading! Queen of Poptarts' and Blueprincess101, I really appreciated your reviews! ^^ It's nice to know that y'all like the daily updates and the story. :D

So the therapist finds out! We'll be seeing the aftermath... soon. ;D


	13. In Which Chaos Descends

It took an entire split-second for the Olympian counsel to descend into chaos.

Athena was trying her best to comfort the Olympians, but she was overshadowed by Zeus, thundering with rage as he stormed after an understandably freaked-out Apollo, who was singing a serenade in an attempt to calm his father down, followed by a similarly raging Artemis, who was annoyed not because Apollo revealed their identity but because his song was burning her ears.

Dionysus was drunk and was reveling happily along with Zeus as he sang in sync to Apollo's new debut: _The_ _Lynch of Apollo._ Poseidon was conjuring up drinks and passing it to his fellow Olympians as they chugged it down before they ran after Apollo (and spitting it out when they realized it was salt-water). Hera was taking up the opportunity to humiliate Apollo, as she sent a cow to run after him. Aphrodite was absentmindedly twisting her braid. Ares was screaming for _BLOODY MURDER_. Hermes was laughing as he filmed the chase for _Olympian's Funniest Videos._ Hephaestus was ignoring the lot as he tinkered. Hades was staring at the lynch-crowd irately as if he was just _waiting_ for one of the immortals to die.

And last but not least, Demeter was enjoying her Fruity-Pebble Donuts. What did you expect? She was Demeter.

Apollo was panicked, running in circles as he toppled over desks and tripped over similarly understandably-irritated Olympians, who joined in chasing after him just because, all the while as he sang a serenade he called the _Lynch of Apollo._

Hestia was desperately telling them to stop, but sadly, she could reason with no one, being the only voice of reason in the family. The only other Olympian that _wasn't_ chasing Apollo was Athena, who was groaning and shaking her head, muttering under her breath to Hestia: ''There's no reasoning with this family, is there?''

Meanwhile, Apollo was still screaming '' _you're making a mistake!''_ in his song lyrics as his lynch mob chased after him. All the while, the Therapist was sitting there dumbly, watching the mad parade go on.

Apollo was screaming out lyrics as the Olympians chanted: ''Put him on trial! Put him on trial!'' It was a bit unusual since Zeus could just strike Apollo down with his lightning bolt without the hassle of a judge, jury, and executioner, but the Olympians were probably mesmerizing about the days when Ares went on trial. The Trials of Ares was a brilliant success for mortal media!

Apollo squeaked as one of the Olympians managed to pinch him, bringing him out of his the _Lynch of Apollo_ \- _I'm not an Archery god_ serenade. ''Wait… the Trials of Apollo? That's actually… not that bad... for a name… _ow!_ '' He then yelped as one of the Olympians tackled him. ''What I meant was, that's a **HORRIBLE** name!''

The Olympians, undeterred, ran after Apollo for a few more rounds—the ringleader of which was none other than Zeus himself.

Zeus was flaming with godly anger. He was already irritated that Apollo decided to belt out a song in the midst of the Olympians' chase, and now he was complaining about Trial name choices? **FINE**! His eyes glowed with furious grey. He'll show him what was _real_ anger!

But before he could do anything, a surge of… tiring, powerful _fatigue_ overwhelmed him. Zeus breathed heavily as he tried to catch up with his son, but alas, his son was too quick, too fast.

''W-wait…'' he panted after his son. The Olympians followed suit, each of them complaining about fatigue and _''this sweat ruins my designer jacket!''_

Zeus wasn't sure whether if they were joking, or were actually fatigued.

Unfortunately for them, Apollo had already run straight out of the room, with the Olympians panting and yelling: ''S-STOP!'' after him.

All of the Olympians that had chased after Apollo collapsed into a heap, aside from one.

 _''I'll deal with him,''_ Artemis hissed, as she ran after him, slamming the door behind her.

An awkward moment passed, with nothing save for the heavy breathing of the Olympians.

''Aww, man,'' groaned Dionysus as he sank back into his chair. He practically spoke for the Olympians, as all of them followed his example and sank back into their chairs, sighing and complaining about their lynch-mob target being gone.

A few moments passed as the Olympians sank back into their chairs, catching their breaths.

After Zeus's limbs stopped tingling, Zeus piped up: ''Hey, Hades…'' he panted heavily. ''—do you want to grab some Lethe water to wipe that one's mind?'' he gestured slightly towards a terrified Dr. Quinzel. ''It's really… _important…_ this time…''

Hades gruffed, understandably annoyed. ''Ugh,'' he grunted, before disappearing in a flash of dark black.

Athena and Hestia both shared a look.

A few moments passed with Dionysus drunkenly humming a retention of _Apolo's Lynch._

Hades reappeared moments later, a vial of liquid-white in his hand. He unscrewed the cork, and was about to throw it in the Therapist's face, when…

''Wait!'' yelled Athena. Hades abruptly stopped, mainly because he was surprised and he didn't want his niece to eat a face-full of Lethe water.

''What?'' grunted Zeus. He was irritated at Athena's intervention, but nonetheless, he gestured for her to continue. After all, she was his favorite daughter.

''Look at the Therapist!'' said Athena. Zeus' eyes unconsciously followed Athena's fingers to the Therapist. The Therapist' eyes seemed purplish, but a moment later it turned back to dark-blue. _Huh_. It was probably because of the shattered stained glass that was once part of the walls of the Therapy room reflecting off of the light though.

''Not that,'' groaned Athena. She pointed at the frozen Therapist. '' _This!''_

All of the Olympians looked at Athena like she had gone off her rocker. Athena groaned and nudged (read: pushed) the Therapist.

After a moment of recovery, Dr. Quinzel's mouth was agape with astonishment. ''You're real? That… wow,'' she admitted, rubbing her forehead. ''That explains so much.''

''Wait.'' The Olympians slowed to a pause. ''What?''

''That's what I've been trying to tell you all along,'' groaned Athena, who _finally_ caught the attention of the Olympians. It took a whole three minutes, which really was faster than their usual pace. ''If she could _hear_ that Apollo called him a god, that would mean that she isn't any ordinary mortal. The Mist would've filtered Apollo's words—'' she glanced around the Olympians ''—at least, I think so. My bet is that she is a clear-sighted mortal.''

Then, she turned to the Olympians. ''Unless one of you'd like to claim her now.''

No one responded except for Dionysus, who let out a drunken burp.

Athena sighed. ''Fine. Then we'll all agree that she is a clear-sighted mortal.''

Zeus offered a large grin and kicked Hades. Hades, although irritated, reluctantly put away his Lethe water. ''

Dr. Quinzel's world was spinning around her. ''Okay,'' she offered. At the stare of the Olympians, she quickly continued. ''I—I'll prepare some stuff for you all to do next Session. You—you all have topics you want to discuss ready. I, uh, remember to come back next time!'' Dr. Quinzel said a bit too quickly, as she rushed out of the room and shut the door behind her.

A tense moment passed.

''Mmm!'' said Demeter, which caused all the Olympians to stare at her. Chomping on her donuts, she grinned. ''These donuts sure taste good!''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for catching up! I'd like to thank **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** and **Queen of Poptarts** for your frequent reviews—it's what motivates me to write! ^^

I'm letting the Therapist in on the gods' identities since it'll make for some, well, fun therapy sessions trying to fix their issues. :'D

Again thank you for reading and if any of you have any ideas on what you want the gods to do for their sessions, let me know! ^^


	14. In Which They Enjoy Some Therapy

''Wow… I still can't believe this,'' murmured Dr. Quinzel as she sorted out her papers. After the impromptu _running out of the therapy session,_ she returned to realise that the family had already disappeared, long gone.

 _No, not the family,_ she reminded herself. _The Olympians._

The Olympians. The gods of Greece. The first-ever dysfunctional, crazy, incestual, immortal family that was _still_ alive and living even after millennias. And she would be the first one to try and provide them some therapeutic relief.

 _If they could hear me, they would've definitely struck me down by now,_ Dr. Quinzel thought.

But she still couldn't believe it.

Everything she saw was real. The wandering of a snake-tailed lion. The children with what looked like swords and bows strapped to their bodies. The weird guys with horns and hoofs. Everything she'd labeled as _insanity_ was real.

She let out a chuckle. Suddenly, she saw a bright purple aura manifest outside of her Office.

Dr. Quinzel groaned and squinted so hard that her eyes turned a shade purple _. This can't be one of the Greek monsters or something, can it be?_

''Hello?'' She called out to the manifestation outside of her Office. ''Are you Greek?''

No response. A moment later, the purple aura vanished.

 _Goddamn headache_ , she thought. A moment later, she sighed. Gazing at the potted plant on her desk, she asked: ''I'm going insane, aren't I?''

There was no response.

 _Yeah,_ she thought. _I'm definitely going insane, gods or not._

* * *

''Okay!'' Dr. Quinzel said as she gave all the Olympians a smile. It was unsettling to think that any one of them could easily blast her into oblivion.

 _Try not to think about that,_ a voice in her head offered. Dr. Quinzel took the advice and glanced at all the Olympians, puffing up with more bravado than she was. ''I trust that all of you have found a topic to, ah, talk about today?''

The Olympians nodded furiously, some of them glaring at each other. Dr. Quinzel noticed in particular that Hephaestus, _the god of the goddamn Forges,_ was staring down at Ares, _the god of goddamn War,_ with Aphrodite, _the goddess of goddamn Love_ , getting stuck in between the two. Dr. Quinzel guessed that it was some sort of past conflict or a love triangle.

Dr. Quinzel sighed. She should've really done some research on Myths.

She also noticed that Hera, _the goddess of goddamn… wait, what was she again?_ and Zeus, _the god of the goddamn Universe,_ were locked in a stare-down with each other. Probably some infidelity, she noted. Better put them in a group later!

Another thing she noticed was the glares exchanged between Hades, _the god of the goddamn Underworld,_ Demeter, _the goddamn goddess of Agriculture,_ and Persephone, _Hades' wife and the goddess of the goddamn Spring._

 _Oh boy,_ Dr. Quinzel thought. _This's gonna be complicated._ Unconsciously, she stared at Apollo, who started the entire thing to begin with.

After that _episode_ with Apollo, _the god of the goddamn Sun_ , Dr. Quinzel discreetly noticed that his sister Artemis, _the goddess of the goddamn Moon,_ was grasping his arm tightly, as if she wanted to restrain him if he ever blurted out something wrong again.

Not that there were any more secrets, right? Dr. Quinzel laughed nervously in her mind.

''Everyone ready?''

* * *

''We decided that we should be in a group,'' Hades grumbled, gesturing to him, his wife Persephone, and his mother-in-law Demeter. ''Since she's always yelling about me for ''stealing'' her daughter and all, and I'm always yelling at her for stealing my McDonalds and throwing it away.''

Dr. Quinzel discreetly remembered Hades, _the god of the Underworld,_ telling her about having newly discovered McDonald's. She could understand why someone would be annoyed about throwing away the McDonalds and all that.

Demeter seemed shocked. ''Firstly, _stealing_ is an understatement. You literally kidnapped my daughter and dragged her to the Underworld!''

Persephone seemed uncomfortable. Clearing her throat, she said: ''Mom—''

Demeter didn't let her daughter continue. ''Secondly, McDonald's is _not_ healthy!'' She shook her head. ''Why can't you eat something healthy like cereal, for gods' sake?''

''Because you keep eating all of ours,'' muttered Hades under his breath.

Persephone winced. ''I'd hate to say this to you, Mother, but my husband is right.''

Demeter scowled. ''Whatever. You're just saying that just so you can eat McDonald's.'' Then, she stared coldly at her daughter. ''I expected better from you, Persephone!''

Hades muttered some unintelligible curses under his breath. If Demeter wasn't angry before, she seemed livid now.

Dr. Quinzel wondered if this was all it would take to start World War III. If so, she'd like to get the hell out of there, thank you very much.

She really hoped that they couldn't read her thoughts.

''Okay…'' Dr. Quinzel cleared her throat. ''Let's try a quick exercise. All of you will _not_ yell at each other for the next half-hour. The _only_ thing you can give each other is compliments. Ready?''

Demeter groaned. ''Aw, _come on!_ Like the Underworld god would give me compliments—''

''One strike, Demeter.'' said Dr. Quinzel. The goddess of Agriculture seemed really irritated and looked as if she was going to blast her down, but she stood her ground.

She jus hoped she was protected by Zeus of something. But then again, why would the god of _everything_ even bother to protect her? After all, he could just go ' _'whoops! That one didn't work!''_ and tell the Olympians: _''Let's send in the next Therapist!''_

Dr. Quinzel tried not to think about that, but instead focused on staring down Demeter. The Agriculture goddess wouldn't want to kill her, right? Killing mortals wasn't a daily occurrence.. or was it?

The green flames died down. Demeter huffed in annoyance and grunted. ''Fine, then. I'd hate to kill another green-lover.'' She turned to a nervous Persephone, and then to a surprised Hades. ''Shall we start this, then?''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! I'd like to thank **Queen of Poptarts** for the review—I'm glad you're enjoying the story! xD

On a side note, I may **not be able** to update tomorrow, due to the fact that I have an event gathering 'till 7:00 and a concert after that 'till 11:00. I'll still try to get a chappie out, though!


	15. In Which They Talk About Trees

Persephone was looking at them both, seemingly terrified. '' _I appreciate the sentiment and all,''_ she whispered to Dr. Quinzel. _''But I don't think it'll work.''_

Dr. Quinzel didn't respond but instead focused on the two rival gods. ''Okay,'' she cleared her throat. ''Anything in particular you'd like to discuss?''

''I'd like to discuss about the kidnapping of… _my daughter,''_ said Demeter, her voice sounding very strained.

''Demeter,'' Dr. Quinzel interjected. ''How about you use the word _marriage_ instead? Or else I'll be forced to add another strike.''

Demeter seemed irritated, and Dr. Quinzel wondered if she was about to die, before she conceded. ''Fine,'' she grunted. '' _Marriage._ I don't approve of your marriage. Period.''

''Well…'' Hades grumbled. ''We're married, whether if you like it or not.''

An awkward pause came in between the three Olympians, and one Therapist.

''I think I should've just let the mortals starve,'' muttered Demeter under her breath. At the glare of Dr. Quinzel, she sighed. ''I mean… _thank you_ for not unleashing all the horrors of the Underworld to the Aboveworld. I really…'' her voice sounded strained. ''— _appreciate it.''_

Dr. Quinzel beamed. ''Good job, Demeter!''

''You're very nice… for an Agriculture goddess,'' Hades grunted at Demeter. ''It's nice that you don't starve all the mortals to death.''

''Why, thank you, Hades!'' said Demeter. Was it just her, but did it sound sarcastic? But Demeter's eyes seemed sincere when she said it.

Persephone leaned over to Dr. Quinzel. _''Is it just me, or does this feel weird?''_

Dr. Quinzel whispered back. ' _'I barely know your family, and I'll say yes.''_

* * *

While they were waiting in the waiting room, Athena leaned over to Artemis. _''_ I'd like to use some of your, ah, _knowledge_ on something… _''_

Artemis glanced curiously at Athena. ''What is it?''

''Er… I need you to hear this. Can we talk outside, please?''

Artemis seemed confused, but nevertheless conceded and followed Athena out of the room.

Once they were outside, Artemis raised an eyebrow at Athena. ''What seems to be the issue, Athena?''

It was unusual for the War Goddess to ask her for advice. Athena usually relied on her own wits and expertise rather than asking help from other gods; in fact, she actively _despised_ asking help from other gods. Artemis could only wonder why.

''It's something about the Nature.'' At this, Artemis perked up. _Something about the Nature?_ That was unusual, to say at the very least. If something had happened to the Nature—or at least, the wild, she would've been alerted to it, by her Hunters or by the animals of the wild.

But this time, at the very least, seemed different.

Athena snapped her fingers. Suddenly, a bright red light appeared, and inside of it floated a parchment from her palm. _No… newspaper._ Athena snatched it out of the air, and unrolled the piece of newspaper. After smoothing out some of the wrinkles and edges, she passed it to her.

Artemis studied the newspaper curiously. On the title read: _ASSAULT ON MANHATTAN! DESTRUCTIVE TREES BLOCK TERRACE AND CARS!_

''I don't see anything important—''

''Look carefully,'' Athena interjected.

Heeding Athena's words, she studied the title carefully. Suddenly, the words '' _DESTRUCTIVE TREES BLOCK TERRACE AND CARS!''_ turned into: _TREES DESTROY EVERYTHING!_

 _The Mist,_ Artemis realized. _But why?_

''Do you know… _anything_ about this?'' Athena's tone took on a note of worry. Artemis didn't exactly like it.

''I—I do not,'' said Artemis. Her eyes focused on the picture of destroyed Trees, with a dark-green figure standing amidst all of it. ''But this is not good news indeed.''

* * *

''I, ah, would like to ask a question,'' Athena said. Dr. Quinzel perked up as she righted her lopsided pencil. ''Yes?''

''Is there anything unusual happening in the mortal world now?''

Dr. Quinzel was confused. Why would Athena be asking this?

''Not to my knowledge,'' she admitted. ''I don't actually catch up with the latest news.''

Athena sighed in mild exasperation. Dr. Quinzel _really_ hoped that she didn't blast her for not having as high IQ as her or something, whatever. Suddenly, Athena whipped out a phone and scrolled through it. Dr. Quinzel was a bit tempted to remind her about the _no electronics in Therapy sessions_ rule, but wisely decided against it.

In reality, Athena could've easily snapped her fingers and given Dr. Quinzel the same newspaper she gave Artemis earlier, but she didn't want the Therapist to faint at the display of power.

''Here.'' Athena showed her a news article on her phone. On it read: _ASSAULT ON MANHATTAN! TREES DESTROY EVERYTHING!_

Dr. Quinzel was confused. ''No offense, Athena, but why are you showing me this?''

''Focus on the picture.''

Dr. Quinzel squinted at the picture. Slowly but surely enough, the Mist parted, and the image of a falling Tree was replaced by a gigantic Tree with a monstrous face, hideous hollow eyes, and a very olden trunk, ripping apart cars and the pavement. In the middle of it stood a bright green figure, finger pointed at the monstorous Tree, as if it were controlling it.

Crap. That seemed bad.

''Ah… I see what you mean,'' Dr. Quinzel said slowly. She stared at Athena and said what might be her brave last words. ''However, such a picture is not related to Therapy, Athena. I would like you to come back with an _actual topic_ to discuss next time.''

Athena groaned irately, but thankfully, she did _not_ blast her into oblivion. Getting out of the chair and slamming the door behind her, Dr. Quinzel was glad that the only injury was the reverberating shock through the room.

Meekly, she called: ''Next?''

* * *

 **A/N:** Hmm, interesting! Looks like Trees are taking the focus...

Anyway, I'd like to thank **Guest** and **Queen of Poptarts** for the reviews! Figured I had to throw some references to the Demigods here and there, haha!


	16. In Which Hera Is Pissed At Zeus

Hera and Zeus came in, scowling.

''What seems to be the issue?'' Dr. Quinzel offered. Hera only scowled, while sweat poured from Zeus' face, hair, and virtually everywhere else. Which was something she did not need to look at nor know. _Huh_.

A few faint pieces of Greek Mythology came to mind. Weren't Zeus and Hera married, after Zeus wooed her by becoming... a cuckoo? Dr. Quinzel visibly winced. Yeah, it was something she'd rather not touch upon.

But anyways. Apparently, Zeus & Hera were _not_ a happy couple.

''Infidelity, that's what!'' scowled Hera. Dr. Quinzel seemed visibly stunned. Zeus seemed a little apologetic, for whatever reason.

''I really didn't mean to—'' Zeus protested, but Hera sent him a glare. Dr. Quinzel looked back and forth between the two, trying to discern something from the two. So far, she didn't see anything, aside from the apparent rage plastered on Hera's face and the pleads of _mercy_ from the God of Everything.

''What's happened?'' Dr. Quinzel asked, hoping that she wasn't overstepping their boundaries. Thankfully, the Olympians didn't seem to mind, because a) they were still staring at each other; one in a furious meltdown and the other in a stasis of a plea, and b) Hera seemed to snarl and rant some more. Which, c) was a good thing, right?

Right?

'' _This asshole—''_ Hera fumed as she readied her fists. She looked like she was about to punch the Sky god in the face. Dr. Quinzel imagined that it was probably not a good idea to mention the rules against physical violence right now, or she'll end up as the target of violence. _''—is a bloody asshole, that's what!''_

Dr. Quinzel nearly had to cover her ears at Hera's shrill shriek.

''Aw, come on babe,'' Zeus pleaded. The word _babe_ just sent Hera into another furious glare, which Zeus withered from. ''It's not like it was an actual infidelity—'' he protested, which _really_ didn't seem to help matters. Dr. Quinzel reminded herself to teach Zeus a lesson on reasoning if she could. ''—I mean, I didn't go any farther than the kissing!''

''That's because I _stopped_ you when you went on to the kissing!'' yelled Hera. Again, Dr. Quinzel had to cover her ears and wince. ''Why, Zeus, if I only could blast _you_ to oblivion…''

Zeus whimpered, which was rather unusual for the god of the Sky. ''Don't do it,'' he said weakly, which again was very unusual for the god of the Sky.

''And I didn't even touch on Thalia Grace,'' growled Hera, whose stark-raving-mad-screaming rant made Dr. Quinzel wince for the third time. ''If she weren't under _Artemis'_ protection—which **_by the way_** is another byproduct of your infidelity—I would've blasted her to straight oblivion a long time ago!''

Dr. Quinzel was hopelessly lost. She was drowning in the sea of Hera's whirlpool of a rant. ''Wait… what's happening right now?''

Both Olympians, predictably, ignored her. Instead, they continued the one-sided stare-down.

''Honey—'' Zeus tried, holding up his palms. ''—I'm really sorry, okay?'' He glanced quickly at Dr. Quinzel. ''Can we, uh, get on with the Therapy? Because…''

''FINE!'' yelled Hera, her ears steaming mad. Dr. Quinzel took that literally, because steam literally seemed to be puff out from her reddish ears. She glared at Zeus, and then at Dr. Quinzel, and back again, as if she was contemplating which to blast to oblivion. Dr. Quinzel hoped that she chose the former. ''FINE THEN!''

Dr. Quinzel gulped. She really wasn't looking forward to their Therapy Session.

* * *

'' _Shut up, Zeus! I don't need to hear anymore of your stupid excuses—''_ Hera screamed at an obviously-terrified god of the Sky. He was holding up his hands in surrender, but either Hera didn't seem to notice nor did she seem to care.

''I said I'm sorry!'' Zeus squeaked as he dodged a firey projectile thrown at him. Dr. Quinzel winced and mentally reminded herself to update their _throwing objects around the Therapy Sessions_ policies (especially the insurance) as the projectile smashed itself on the glass. And just _why did it stink?_

Dr. Quinzel decided not to question that for now. Instead, she turned her mind to that pay raise she'd been asking for the past year. What would she give to accept a pay raise from Dr. Isley just about now?

Too bad Dr. Isley had left for a _little_ field trip on _''Environmental Protection''_. It was pretty stupid, but what could you do? Dr. Quinzel could probably understand a bit of the sentiment, what with the excessive amount of Therapy cases recently about some _''gigantic sleeping event''_ that they couldn't recall about in Manhattan, or a few cases about depressed teens who simply couldn't survive after their phones mysteriously disappeared. It was, quite frankly, depressing.

Anyway.

Hera shrieked once more as she threw another projectile at Zeus. _''What is with you and cheating?!''_ she snarled. Dr. Quinzel couldn't exactly blame her for being pissed at Zeus—hell, she'll be annoyed if someone decided to cheat her out on the money—but she had to admit, poisoning an entire city and viciously murdering the girlfriend was a little too much.

''Okay,'' Dr. Quinzel tried as she spoke to a screaming Hera. ''Try reciting road streets you remember from your childhood. An example would be…'' She scratched her mind for street locations. Maybe some from her childhood. ''Birch Street, Higgins Drive, Cobalt Lane?''

At the Olympians' unimpressive looks, she stated: ''Try something similar to that.''

''Kronos' stomach. Kronos' digestive tract. Kronos' esophagus.'' Hera turned to Dr. Quinzel. ''You know this isn't working, right?''

Dr. Quinzel sighed. She really had to try something different… _at least they weren't yelling anymore._

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for catching up! :D Awesomeness goes to **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** and **Queen of Poptarts** for the reviews! ^^ Really glad you're enjoying it~

As for the Therapist's obliviousness—it should definetly be a song. xD And for the magical attacking trees... well, you'll see more on that soon. ;)


	17. In Which There Is A Civilized Discussion

Thankfully, she didn't get killed.

After enduring a tirade of rants from the stark-raving-mad Goddess of the Heavens, and a lot of apologies from the local god of the Universe, they had finally stormed out of the Office to take their problems outside. Which she was definitely fine with. She just felt bad for any poor person that would be caught in the midst of their wrath.

After they left, Dr. Quinzel let out a visible breath of relief, and yelled out: ''NEXT!''

Hephaestus, Ares, and Aphrodite shambled in. Hephaestus was slumped, with dark circles under his eyes, as if he was tired. Ares was puffing with pride, gloating to Aphrodite next to him, who was absentmindedly twisting her hair into a braid.

Once they'd settled in into their chairs, Dr. Quinzel addressed the lot. ''What would be topic you'd like to discuss today?''

''Our love triangle,'' Hephaestus stated bluntly. He seemed solemn, almost sad even. While Ares laughed like a maniac, as if it were some cosmic joke, and Aphrodite blushed beet-red.

When Dr. Quinzel raised an eyebrow, gesturing for them to continue, Hephaestus grunted. ''Didn't do your research, did you?'' At her shrug, he sighed exasperatedly and continued. ''Basic backstory: Aphrodite is pretty. Everyone fawned over her except for me. Hera noticed, and married Aphrodite to me since she _figured_ it would be ridiculous for a man to be jealous of a man like myself.''

He gestured to his unruly clothes, dirty beard, and creaky legs in sarcasm. Ares laughed, and patted Hephaestus almost a little too violently on his back. ''Yeah, right!'' He scoffed, but the good-naturedness of the statement was overshadowed by the evil glint in his eye. ''Jealous!''

Hephaestus nodded absentmindedly, almost not even noticing Ares as he tinkered with something in his bag. Aphrodite glared at Ares a little irritatedly, as if telling him to tone it down a little. Ares shrugged and lifted his hand off of Hephaestus' back.

All of this the Therapist noted.

''Basically, Ares and Aphrodite had been horsing around behind my back when I leave the house for Lemmos—oh, about a few millennia ago, when we were newly married. Helios told me, I captured the both of them in my net, got the dowry, and divorced Aphrodite, period.'' Hephaestus almost seemed wistful as he said it.

''So…'' Dr. Quinzel shrugged. She toyed around with the pen in her hand. So Hephaestus divorced his cheating wife, and Ares and Aphrodite were free to get together, while Hephaestus got to do whatever he wanted. ''What seems to be the problem?''

A tense second passed.

''I still love her,'' blurted out Hephaestus. Ares was surprised for a millisecond, until he concealed it a millisecond later with rage. Aphrodite also was surprised for a moment, but a moment later she blushed.

''Why, you little…'' growled Ares, but he was shut up by a stern look from Aphrodite. Addressing Dr. Quinzel, she said quietly: ''Hephaestus loves me. So does Ares. This is why I proposed we come as a group. What shall we do?''

 _For a Love goddess that loves breaking hearts_ , Dr. Quinzel thought, _she sure was delicate with theirs._

Ares and Hephaestus both gazed at Dr. Quinzel expectantly for an answer. She almost cried on the inside. _When did she turn from a Therapist to a relationship counselor?_

However, she found herself responding. ''Why don't you go to a ball?'' suggested Dr. Quinzel. ''Take turns trying to impress Aphrodite. Best man takes her out?''

* * *

As the Olympians gathered outside in the waiting room, Dr. Quinzel stepped outside and cleared her throat. Glancing at the crowd of a family, she asked: ''Anyone willing to volunteer to be next?''

No sound was heard, save for Dionysus' drunken singing.

Hera was furiously whispering into Zeus' ear, clearly still pissed about the whole ''cheating'' thing. Zeus was sweating. Poseidon and Hades were playing some form of the _''Coconut''_ game. Athena was jabbing on her phone (was it the thing about trees?) as Artemis looked over her shoulder. Apollo was humming an irritating tune. Dionysus was singing to the irritating tune. Demeter was munching on her donuts, as she shared some with her reluctant daughter. Hephaestus was tinkering with something furiously, Ares was pissed, and Aphrodite was seated quietly in her seat. Hestia was looking over the family, embarrassment coloring her features matching her red shawl.

Dr. Quinzel sighed. ''Okay, then. If none of you are willing to volunteer, then I shall be forced to _choose_ one of you.'' At this, the Olympians squirmed. ''Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon!'' she called, much to the surprise of the trio. ''You're up next!''

* * *

''Alright!'' Dr. Quinzel addressed the three Olymipans—Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, who was currently unimpressed. ''—I've brought you all in to play a cooperative game. Ready?''

A hand rose in the air. ''Yes?''

''Does the game involve murder?'' said a gloomy Hades. He was currently toying with a— _wait,_ was that one of the toys given out alongside Happy Meals?

Dr. Quinzel glanced at the God of the Underworld. Hard. On the inside, she really wished that the _murder_ that he had proposed didn't involve, say, a mortal and three amused gods.

''No, Hades. It's a cooperative game, not a _trigger-happy murdering_ game.'' Dr. Quinzel stated firmly. She'd really wish to live through the day. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a purple specter float behind Hades.

 _Ignore 'em,_ a voice in her mind advised. _Patients first. Insanity later._

Another hand rose in the air. Dr. Quinzel let out an exasperated sigh. ''… yes?''

''Does the game involve a re-roll?'' asked a nervous-looking Zeus. Dr. Quinzel was a bit confused about the _re-roll_ Zeus was talking about, but then she remembered that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew straws to see which part of the universe they got. Zeus got the best draw, where he chose the Sky. Dr. Quinzel could understand why he was nervous about it all, especially if it meant he'd have to chance to roll again and get something like, say, the _Underworld._

Dr. Quinzel sighed. ''No, it does not involve a re-roll, Zeus,'' she said, much to the relief of Zeus and the annoyance of his two brothers beside him.

Another hand rose. Dr. Quinzel bit back her sigh. ''… yeah?''

''Does the game involve water?'' an excited Poseidon said, a sparkle in his eye. At his question. Dr. Quinzel let herself a small smile.

''Why yes, Poseidon,'' she said. ''Yes it does.''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for catching up! Didn't get any reviews for the last chappie, though I still really appreciate all the support I get! I'd like to especially thank **mirashards69** , **Alysaa** , and **Bookworm24680** for the favs/follows, and of course **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , **Queen of Poptarts** , and **Blueprincess101** for your support. :D

And as a **side note,** the **Orion** character tag is now available on **Percy Jackson and the Olympians**! It was recently added, so remember to tag your **Artemis** / **Orion** fics with it. :D For anyone who doesn't recognize the name, he was a companion of Artemis in the Greek Myths whom Apollo tricked her into shooting because he believed she was breaking her vow by spending time with him. A fic I would recommend about them would be _Muse of Fanfiction's **Promises.**_ It's a brilliant story detailing about Artemis and Orion's relationship and journey.

Anyhow, we'll see a bit more therapy for the gods, and some more fun. Hope you liked!


	18. In Which They Play A Game

''The game goes like this. You all are stuck in a desert—with _absolutely no powers!_ Zeus is stuck in a sand-pit, and your jobs are to get him out. While avoiding the bandits that are about to kill you. You only have 10 minutes. Understand?''

Dr. Quinzel motioned to the board game beneath her, which boasted a _''Special Edition!''_ complete with small figurines and… what was that again? Mythomagic cards?

Anyway. Dr. Quinzel took the Zeus figurine and placed it in the _''Danger Zone!''_ tile, which was shaped in a pit. She put Zeus in the very bottom of the pit, whilst pouring a packet of sand into it. Then, Dr. Quinzel placed the Hades and Poseidon figurines around the _Danger Zone,_ as she sprinkled around some tools—a rope, a Lightning Bolt, a lucky charm and a few skeletal soldiers. Then, she placed a few dozen bandits around the board.

Zeus groaned as he smoothed out his beard. ''Why does it have to be _me_ that's stuck in the sand-pit? Damnit!''

Poseidon looked over at his brother. ''Because you're the one that's always described as 'all powerful'. We need some time to shine, right brother?'' he said to Hades, which he got a gloomy grin in return.

''Ahem…'' Dr. Quinzel cleared her throat. ''Back to the game, please, everyone?''

Poseidon gave a glance towards the board game. He yawned, but nevertheless took the tiny Lightning Bolt and toyed around with it, as Zeus glared at his brother. ''It's tiny!'' Poseidon whispered to his brother, which in return he got another glare sent to him.

Hades smiled lazily as he lounged backward on his pillow. ''Well, that's an easy one. We leave Zeus to the lizards, while I and Poseidon get the hell outta there.''

Poseidon laughed and slapped his brother on the back, which seemed to surprise Hades. Zeus, meanwhile, was sulking in his corner.

Dr. Quinzel narrowed her eyes. She was staring intently at the figurines as if she was expecting one of them to disappear at any given moment. Hey, you couldn't trust the gods, right? ''No leaving each other behind!''

Hades grunted. ''Fine.''

Poseidon had put down the small Lightning Bolt. ''Can I, like, shoot Zeus with it? That'd be one less problem to deal with!''

Zeus glared at his brother. ''Watch your mouth! And to answer your question, only _I_ may use my Lightning Bolt! Anyone else that tries will enjoy an, _ah_ , _strikingly_ painful death.''

Poseidon only grinned at Zeus. Dr. Quinzel was staring at the exchange awkwardly before she cleared her throat: ''No, you may _not_ shoot Zeus with the Lightning Bolt, no matter how tempting it may be. And per what Zeus had said, only he can use the Lightning Bolt.''

Dr. Quinzel then pushed the entirety of bandits towards the Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon figurines, forcing them into a small circle.

Zeus yelped. ''Whoa, not so quick!''

In response to that, Dr. Quinzel pushed the bandit figurines even further in.

''Wait! Stop! Please!'' At his plead, Dr. Quinzel paused. ''A little power?'' Poseidon asked, pleading.

Dr. Quinzel glanced at the 3 Olympians. Zeus seemed terrified, Poseidon was pleading, and even Hades seemed paler than he usually was. She didn't know how a board game could scare the gods so much. Finally, she relented. ''Alright, then. _Some_ power.''

Suddenly, Poseidon conjured up water, filling up the sand-pit with a brimful of water. Sand surrounding the pit thickened and turned into wet sand, as it pushed the Zeus figurine upwards towards the surface. Meanwhile, Hades reanimated the tiny skeletal soldier figurines to life, which caused Dr. Quinzel to yelp as they clashed their swords and shields and made a rattling sound. Then, they proceeded to attack and slice every single one of the bandit figurines in halves.

By the time it all ended, Dr. Quinzel was faced with three obviously pleased Olympians, three saved mini-figurines of the said Olympians, about a dozen tiny rattling skeletons and a bunch of sliced plastic remains.

''Disaster averted!'' cheered Poseidon as he hi-fived Zeus. Zeus seemed proud, and not the least concerned that his figurine-self had to be saved by his brothers. Hades was almost even smiling.

''That was… kinda fun, I'll give you that,'' grunted Zeus. ''But next time, give me a larger role!'' He said as he marched out of the Therapy Session, followed by a grinning Poseidon. ''And more powers!''

''Sorry about them,'' Hades said as he got up to leave. ''It's just… we're not used to entertaining the thought of being vulnerable. After all, we _are_ gods, with immortality and power. Becoming powerless is not a thought that would cross our minds.''

And with that, he got up and left.

* * *

''Next!'' Dr. Quinzel called, tiredness apparent in her features. In swung in Dionysus the drunkard, still mooching about the destruction wine-flavored ice-cream—and drinking wine to cope with it.

''I can't believe they _ruined_ my ice-cream!'' he whined as he slid into the chair. Dr. Quinzel almost cringed at the sound. He sounded like her, except with the incredibly high octave his voice was in and the drunken burps here and then.

''What happened with your ice-cream...?'' she asked patiently, hoping that they could steer this into some, ah, _more_ useful discussion.

Dionysus groaned and rubbed his red eyes. ''They killed it,'' he mumbled.

''I'm very sorry about that, Dionysus,'' Dr. Quinzel said carefully, making sure not to include the words _ice-cream_ in her sentence. She didn't want him to go into a frenzy. ''I'm sure you've bought a topic to talk to me about,'' she said encouragingly. ''So what is the topic would you like to discuss today?''

''My kids,'' Dionysus said, which surprised her since all he seemed to care about was food and wine. Particularly when merged together. ''I have a son named...'' A bletch came from his throat. ''Pollux. His twin brother, Castor died... and he isn't taking it well,'' he mumbled. Dr. Quinzel was a bit surprised at the words. Taking out her notepad which she had stuck in her drawer, she was careful to take notes. ''I feel terrible, and I don't know what to do. As a father, I want to help him, but I don't know how.''

Dionysus sighed, and in a miraculous act, put down his bottle. ''Can you tell me how?''

''Well...'' Dr. Quinzel began, unsure of where to start. ''Dionysus, Therapy is a place to talk about your problems,'' she admitted. ''You've already conquered the first step—which is admitting that you're doing something wrong. That's very good, Dionysus. Many don't even come to this step.''

Dionysus nodded eagerly, as he leaned forward. Purple seemed to flare from his eyes. Dr. Quinzel scooted a slight step back.

''I guess you can start by quitting drinking.''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! I'd like to thank **Guest** and **PrincessOfAtlantis101** for your reviews—I'm really glad you liked the story! And **Guest,** props for catching the references! :) I really couldn't resist the temptation...

Anyway, we'll see if Dr. Quinzel gets a pay raise. Let's hope so! :'D

~ Firedawn


	19. In Which Hestia Has A Session

Dionysus glared at the Therapist with unabridged fury in his eyes. '' _Quit wine?!_ '' he growled, purple flames flaring from his eyes. The Therapist stood and took a step back, palms raised, terrified.

Just as he readied his fists, he heard her squeak. ''Okay! Okay, you don't have to quit wine!'' She yelped.

She stared at Dionysus' fist. ''Can… can you extinguish those, now?''

Appeased, Dionysus extinguished the flames. Dr. Quinzel seemed visibly rattled. He grunted, and slid back into his chair.

''But—'' his eyes shot up to the Therapist. ''— _but,_ if you want to take care of your children, then you'll have to.''

Dionysus let out an irate grunt, but he didn't stick out his flaming fists again. Which was fine by Dr. Quinzel.

''Next step,'' Dr. Quinzel stated carefully. ''Is to _talk with your son_. I can't know everything's that happened, and the best way to solve your _problem_ is to talk to it directly.''

Dionysus really disliked it when people— _especially mortals!—_ told him what to do. However, he really did want to be a better father. In all honestly, it rattled him, that Demigods— _their own sons and daughters!—_ were willing to join Kronos' forces just because they didn't feel respected by their own parents.

Of course, that wasn't the case for either of his sons, but it didn't stop him from feeling terrible. He had a few sons and daughters in his tenure, which he mostly didn't really keep track of or keep tabs on. He probably had some unclaimed children out there, after many drunken mistakes and one-night stands. Probably going crazy too what with being his child and all.

Dionysus sighed. He cared about his children. And to think he was supposed to be a _mad god!_

He groaned in defeat at Dr. Quinzel's suggestion. ''Alright, _fine_.''

Suddenly, a drachma appeared in his hand. Snapping his fingers, a rainbow appeared, which he tossed the drachma into. Dr. Quinzel observed the process, bewildered. ''It's an Iris-Message,'' he clarified. ''It's for you.'' He pointed at the Iris-Message, which showed a picture of a shimmering Strawberry Field. Ever so often, it would flicker as if it were unsteady. Dr. Quinzel wondered if it would explode any minute.

Dionysus' cheeks that were puffy with the decades of drinking bulged out as he looked at his wine wistfully. ''You watch. I'll go.''

And with that, he disappeared.

In the vision, she could see a boy, no older than fourteen, who was tending to the strawberries in the fields. Offhandedly, she wondered why Dionysus' son would be _tending to strawberries,_ especially _in the middle of nowhere._

''Pollux,'' Dionysus grunted as he appeared beside his son. Pollux whipped his head up in surprise. His Strawberry Bucket fell to the ground.

''Dad,'' he breathed out. ''What are you doing here? I thought you got free-time from Zeus after saving Olympus.''

Dionysus let out a grunt. ''I just wanted to check up on you,'' he said, as he straightened his Hawaii Shirt and cleared his throat. ''I came to see if you're doing okay.''

Pollux seemed surprised. Suddenly, a smile broke out on his face. ''I'm fine!'' He said reassuringly, gazing at his father in what seemed like an... renewed awe?

Dionysus raised an eyebrow, and Pollux's smile dropped. He sighed. ''I'm… I'm still sad about Castor's death, but the Apollo Campers say time's the best medicine.'' After a moment, he added quietly: ''I hope they're right.''

Dionysus nodded solemnly. Patting his son's body from top to bottom, he asked:

''You alright? Not injured from the Titan War?''

Pollux shrugged. ''Injured my left arm a little, but now it's good and new. Nothing to worry about.''

''Good,'' he muttered. ''Perry Johnson didn't break his promise.''

''Wait, what?'' But once the words were said, Dionysus had disappeared in a swirl of purple glory.

Dr. Quinzel really didn't know what to make of it. But hey, it was the gods. What could you do?

* * *

''Next!'' Dr. Quinzel yelled, before visibly groaning. She really needed some herbal tea after this, what with all the yelling and all.

Hestia shuffled nervously into the room. Dr. Quinzel remembered her as the woman who booked the Therapy Sessions for the Olympians. She let a shaky smile appear on her features, but on the inside, she thought: _why did you have to do this to me?_

Anyway. As Hestia shuffled into the room, Dr. Quinzel escorted her to a seat. The woman facing her—or the _god, for a fact—_ looked no older than nine. She wore a plain cloak, and a red shawl. She seemed a bit timid—nervous, for a fact. Offhandedly, she wondered what the occupation of the goddess sitting in front of her was.

(To be fair, she didn't _exactly_ do her research on the gods. Most of the time was spent lamenting her life and staring at the walls, processing the fact that _the Greek gods still existed after all these years and are actually **real.** )_

She'd only had the time to search some of the more... ah, _important_ gods. Mainly the ones with more babies and more articles on them. But hey, what could a Therapist do?

''What seems to be the issue?'' she offered to the goddess in front of her. She was fidgeting with her shawl, which was unusually unusual for someone who had booked the sessions in the first place.

''I—'' the goddess bit her lip. ''I want my family to get along,'' she breathed out.

 _Okay,_ Dr. Quinzel thought. It was a quite simple wish for any family really, but actions speak louder than words—and in this case, taking action—or rather, having taken action in trying to get her family to get along—was enormously harder than the simplicity of the wish.

''Got any more elaboration on that?'' Dr. Quinzel found herself asking. Hestia bit her lip again, and the next time she opened her mouth to speak, words flowed out like an opened dam.

''I'm the goddess of the Hearth. Of the family. I'm supposed to look after _home,_ where the family is—but to my chagrin, my title is incredibly ironic.'' A sad chuckle came from her voice. ''My family is the first dysfunctional family, ever. It's ridiculously impossible for them to get along... and when they do cooperate, it's usually about War.''

She looked at Dr. Quinzel, solemn. ''And War is what rips apart families; what destroys lives; and kills what cannot be replaced.''

A sigh. ''If I cannot take care of _them_... what validates me to look after others' homes? Their families?''

Dr. Quinzel stared at Hestia for a moment, before a small smile broke out on her features. Hestia seemed surprised, but Dr. Quinzel held up her palms. ''Hestia. What you're doing... _you're trying to solve a millennia's worth of problems._ Do you get what I'm saying?'' she asked, and Hestia gave her a small nod.

''Your family's burdens _cannot be carried_ by _yourself alone._ Although you may be the goddess of the Hearth, it's not your job to solve _everyone's_ problems. And just because you can't solve your family's problems does _not mean_ that you've automatically failed as the goddess of Hearths. Understand?'' she repeated, and Hestia nodded at that as well.

''You're already doing a great start,'' Dr. Quinzel said encouragingly, as a small grin passed her face, ''by hiring me. Now let's start small, piece by piece, shall we?''

Hestia took a small breath. ''But—''

''I'd say, you're doing a terrific job, Hestia.'' Dr. Quinzel interrupted her. '' _Don't doubt that.''_

''Okay,'' Hestia responded, and a sense of peace seemed to reside in her features. Dr. Quinzel smiled, escorted the 9-year old goddess out, and faced the Olympians waiting in the lobby.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for catching up! I'd like to thank **Sv007** and **Queen of Poptarts** for your reviews—well, the Dr. is alive... for now at least. :D **Queen of Poptarts,** about Dionysus going to Therapy about his children—I wanted to show most of the Olympians trying to solve their issues, and it's something I'll work with later on. _(Yay, therapy!)_

I really appreciate all the support I get—gotta love the favs, followers, and last but not least—the reviews! :)


	20. In Which They Meet the Avatar of Nature

''I'd like to say…'' Dr. Quinzel trailed off as she glanced at the family. Most of them were doing their own thing—dialing on their phones, chatting with one another, and pulling pranks. If anyone saw them, they would've looked like a semi-functional family, but of course, that wasn't the case.

She sighed. ''I'd like to thank you all for coming. It's nice to know that you're attempting to solve your problems. My assignment for _all of you,_ '' Dr. Quinzel cleared her throat, and eyed the Olympians that were listening in to her—Zeus included. ''—will be to _join the Manhattan Ball._ It will be hosted tonight, at 7:00 pm. Do you hear me?''

The Olympians that were listening nodded absentmindedly. Dr. Quinzel sighed, but continued. ''I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.'' she said generically. Dr. Quinzel waved her hands. ''You may leave now...?''

Even those that were listening to her seemed bored. As they got up to leave, Dr. Quinzel let out a mental sigh of relief. She was just glad that the two hours of their sessions were over. It really was quite taxing to keep their stories straight and remembering _who-did-what_ and _why-they-did-what_. Additionally, she was supposed to solve millennials' worth of problems. Much harder than your typical case.

Dr. Quinzel sighed. Suddenly, a phone alert sounded from Athena's phone. Dr. Quinzel felt irritation twinge on her skin, since there was a very clear _no electronics_ rule on the board, but that was until Athena gasped and gestured for the family to come over.

''What is it?'' asked Zeus, worry apparent in his voice. Artemis seemed a bit uneasy as well, as the family gathered around Athena. Unwittingly, Dr. Quinzel glanced over to the phone, to see what the commotion was about.

On it screamed: _''BREAKING NEWS! ATTACK ON MANHATTAN PARK! TREES CAUSE DESTRUCTION!''_

''I don't like the sound of this,'' murmured Athena. ''We should check it out.''

''Yes,'' Artemis agreed, sounding worried. ''I'm afraid... _I hope_ it isn't what I think it is.''

And in a blast, they were gone.

Dr. Quinzel sighed. She really deserved a pay raise.

* * *

''Wait. What the Hades is _that?''_ gawked Hermes as they reappeared in Manhattan Park.

In the path of destroyed pavement, ravaged trees, and roofless cars, a lone spirit stood in the wake. Snarling ruthlessly in disgust, its back turned to the Olympians, it pointed at a car—and in a single moment, a gigantic tree burst from the undergrowth and uprooted the car, leaving metal pieces of the car—and the car itself— strung in its branches. Hollow yellow eyes glowed its cavities, as the summoned tree let out an earthly howl.

''Uh oh…'' muttered Artemis. ''This isn't good.''

Snarling furiously, the spirit turned at the sound.

''Well crap.'' grunted Zeus. Turning back towards the Olympians, he said: ''Alright Olympians! Let's get lost!''

But the spirit beat them to it. Taking in all of the Olympians, it scowled and disappeared in a blast of bright green light.

* * *

''What in Tartarus was that?'' said Hermes, disbelief in his eyes. He turned towards the Tree Monster. Then, he glanced at Demeter. Accusingly, he said: ''Demeter, what did _you_ _do_ this time?!''

''It wasn't me!'' complained Demeter. At the Olympians' glares, she sighed. ''Tell them, Artemis!''

''It wasn't Demeter,'' said Artemis, garnering a grateful look from Demeter. ''But I know what it was. And it's not good news.''

All the Olympians turned to her. ''It's a Spirit of Nature,'' Artemis said, voice stony as she looked at the Olympians, gauging their reactions.

Apollo raised his hand. ''Um, aren't those, like, _dryads?''_

Artemis audibly sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. ''No. These are far worse. This one's an Avatar of Nature. It's the only kind that can do this—'' she mimicked a _uprising-tree_ motion with her hands. ''—and make trees gain consciousness and destroy things, et. cetra.''

Again, she looked at the Olympians to gauge their reactions.

Another hand raise. Artemis sighed in exasperation. ''Yes?''

''Then why is it destroying everything?'' Artemis glanced back at the lone Tree Monster that was left behind by the Avatar of Nature. It was howling in distress as it destroyed cars and threw around pickup trucks.

''Because… well, Avatars of Natures date way back; long before my time. It was created for one sole purpose— to destroy everything that's not a part of Nature.''

Zeus scowled. ''Is that supposed to happen?'' He grumbled out. He _really_ wanted to just blast and destroy that... _dryad, whatever._ It was embarrassing enough that the sight of it made him want to flee!

Artemis seemed contemplative for a moment. ''No. But I know which ones' do.''

As the Olympians leaned in, Artemis' voice dropped to a whisper. ''Gaia's.''

* * *

''What the Hades—!'' cursed Hermes.

Disbelief, confusion, and rage were the emotions that ravaged through the Olympians' faces. ''Are you sure you said it right? You don't really mean that the spirits are sent from… Gaia, do you?'' asked Poseidon, concerned.

''Yes,'' said Artemis gravely. ''That's exactly what I'm saying. At least, it's what I fear. Athena had told me of this earlier. I… didn't believe it, until now.''

Athena nodded. ''Yeah. I've read the recent reports and articles on things like '' _Trees Destroying Nature''—_ at first, I thought it was just the tabloids, but the articles were so widespread that I realized it _couldn't be._ It was suspicious—and it was exactly why I asked Artemis about it.''

Artemis shook her head in dumb disbelief. ''I—I thought it might've been the Nature Spirits when Athena showed me the picture, but I hoped for the best. I didn't believe that it was even a possibility then—and even if so, it was low. I never expected for it to be true...''

Murmurs broke through the family.

''Gods,'' Hades addressed, a note of authority in his voice. ''This means that Gaia is rising, doesn't it?''

Zeus nodded gravely. ''I'm afraid so, brother,'' he rasped out. Then, he cleared his throat loudly, addressing the Olympians. ''Everyone shall _evacuate to Olympus_. We will shut the Gates _. We cannot afford Gaia's rise.''_

A moment passed.

''Hey...'' Hermes raised his hand, as he pointed to the Tree Monster with his other hand. ''... can we destroy that monster over there? It's getting really annoying.''

Zeus sighed exasperatedly, summoned a Lightning Bolt 10, and fried the Tree Monster to char.

* * *

Dr. Quinzel was just stacking her papers when suddenly, she saw a bright purple aura emerge from her Office.

''What the hell are you…?'' she trailed off. The purple aura didn't respond but seemed to change hues and shades from purple, to blue, to white.

 _It's all in my mind,_ she thought. _You've seen them since forever. Don't expect finding out that the gods are real would change that._

''Oh, god,'' Dr. Quinzel groaned as she grasped for the bottle of wine as she eyed the misty aura. _Did this really have to happen right now?_

Unscrewing the cork and throwing it aside, she downed the bottle of wine whole. What was the wine god called again…? Yeah, Dionysus. She wanted to thank Dionysus for making wine. It was the only thing distracting her from insanity right now.

 _Gods or not… I'm still going crazy._

Suddenly, she heard her phone ring by the end of the desk. Groaning, she was about to shut it down—it was a terrible time for a phone call—until she noticed the caller ID. _Pamela Isley._

Also known as the Doctor that was in charge of absolutely _everything._ Including her pay-raise.

Dr. Quinzel picked up the phone. ''Hello?''

 _''This is Dr. Isley speaking.''_

Dr. Quinzel perked up, momentarily forgetting about her wine. ''Is this about the pay-raise?''

 _''No. But I need something else.''_

Dr. Quinzel inwardly sighed. ''… yeah?''

 _''I'm gonna have to extend on that vacation. Thought I'd give you a heads up.''_

Dr. Quinzel groaned. Inwardly, she thought about the _TREES DESTROY EVERYTHING!_ news. ''Environmental protection?''

Static. _''… yes. It's getting worse.''_ A pause. _''Gotta go. See you soon.''_

The call beeped. Dr. Quinzel groaned, and buried her head in her hands.

* * *

 **A/N:** I've got to thank **Queen of Poptarts, Sv007** , **Guest** and **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** for your reviews! :D I'm always happy to write cute scenes. Regarding the timeframe, this is set _after the Titan War_ for clarification. My apologies if anyone was confused! And about the references... oh boy the references...

I'll see if I can do anything about Percy/Annabeth and Poseidon & Athena's discontent over it, but no promises! :)

Anyway, thank you for your favs/comments/reviews—all is taken in with grace!


	21. In Which Ares Thirsts For War

''Gods…'' Zeus addressed. He was actually serious for one, which was an unusual change, especially if one had endured through his past meetings. ''The situation is grave. Gaia is on her rise, and we can't afford to tread mortal Earth.'' His voice sounded hoarse. ''Not anymore.''

''But why are you scared of just a Spirit, Father!'' A cry resounded from the back. The Olympians, who were standing in a crowd, parted to reveal Apollo, in full war-gear and a celestial bow strapped to his back, as he glowed a shade yellow. ''It's just one lone spirit!'' Apollo yelled, exaggerating the _one lone spirit_ bit. Pulling his bow from his back, he held it up for all to see, the light of the Sun glistening off of the bow's crystal-like structure. ''We shall curb it and rid its existence! Who is with me?!''

No sound emerged from the Olympians. One of them let out an awkward cough.

A few moments passed. Apollo didn't seem to get any luck in recruiting the Olympians, as Zeus' face seemed redder and redder and his hand was on his Lightning Bolt—until surprisingly, Ares stepped up. He slapped Apollo on the back. ''I'm with you, brother,'' he snarled, which was the first time Ares addressed an Olympian as a _brother._ It would definitely make its way to the Olympian Tabloids in no time.

Addressing all the Olympians, he cried: ''WE SHALL STOMP THIS SPIRIT! WE SHALL KILL IT! WE SHALL RID OF ITS EXISTENCE! WHO IS WITH ME!''

Ares was very good at War Cries. Just a moment later, the entire Olympian counsel responded, shouting their own variations of war cries and curses towards Gaia, the lot.

''WE'RE IN!'' yelled Demeter, Persephone, and Hera, in an unusual act of synchronization.

''I'm joining you in the fight, Ares,'' said Athena as she sighed irately as she stepped towards the War God. ''Although we may disagree on certain events, from one War God to another, I have to agree—this spirit _must_ be stopped.''

''I'll fight alongside you, brother,'' said Artemis to Apollo, smirking. ''Though you don't get to boss me around.''

''We will help you,'' said Hades and Poseidon, their weapons of power ready at hand.

''I would hate to see Gaia's resurrection,'' grunted Hades as he readied his Helmet of Darkness.

''Agreed, brother.''

''As long as I get to apply my perfume, I'm definitely joining in,'' Aphrodite said towards Ares. Wrinkling her nose, she said: ''The smell of destruction ruins my appetite.''

Hephaestus heaved a contraption of his as he glanced at the remaining Olympians. ''I'd hate to see the Spirits ravage Lemmos,'' he grunted. Eyeing the War God critically, he said: ''Even if I dislike you, Ares... I'm in.''

''Count us in,'' said Hermes lazily as he pointed to himself and Dionysus, fingering his Messenger's Bag.

''WAIT!'' Hestia yelled. All of the Olympians turned back to her in surprise. ''We cannot _kill_ this spirit!''

Demeter sighed exasperatedly and patted a dumbfounded Hestia on the back. ''Sister,'' she said as she smoothed out her wheat-themed armor. ''Sometimes, murder is _necessary._ We have to kill it. If you haven't noticed—such a creature of Gaia's threatens our existence and we have no other choice... especially if it leads to Gaia's rise. We need to show her that _we cannot_ be messed around with.''

Hestia sighed irately. ''That wasn't my point,'' she said softly. ''My point is— if we kill the Spirit, then won't we enrage Gaia even further? She would send an even larger influx of Spirits into our World. By then, we cannot even _hop_ over to the mortal world without encountering one of them...''

''What do you suggest, then?'' asked Zeus, combing his beard. To put it frankly, he wasn't a big fan of Apollo's idea, especially when Apollo had interrupted him while he was making his speech. The nerve of his son! Besides, he knew how dangerous Gaia is. She wasn't to be easily _messed with,_ so to put it. Heck, she even (albiet with her sons) _indirectly_ murdered the last Sky Deity! Zeus would rather listen to Hestia's idea, thank you very much, even if it was done a little out of spite.

''I suggest that we _leave it be._ If it destroys enough and Gaia is satisfied, then perhaps it would shrink back into Earth and Gaia would continue on with her sleep. But if we act rashly, then we may enrage Gaia—to the point where she rises from her sleep and decides to take a course of action against us.''

Hestia didn't have to explain what the course of action against us was. The Olympians shifted, as uneasy murmurs broke through the crowd.

''Fine,'' Zeus said, addressing the ready-to-war Olympians. ''I agree with Hestia. Let's get on with life normally, and make everything appear _the same._ If we do that, and the Spirit leaves, then no harm would be done. Okay?''

He made a point to glare at Apollo as he said that.

Apollo sighed, and put down his bow. ''Maybe you're right, Father,'' he admitted. ''But I really don't want to be stuck on Olympus till the end of time.''

Before Zeus could retort, all the other Olympians chimed in. Choruses of '' _yeah_!'' and _''we agree!''_ could be heard from the crowd.

If it were any other situation, Zeus might've had a headache, but he knew what to do this time. The Sky God gave them a small smile as he thought about the Ball Dr. Quinzel suggested. Maybe they could repair their relationships. ''Olympians? We're going to a Ball.''

* * *

 **A/N:** I'd like to thank **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** for pointing out my mistakes in the previous chapter, and I'd like to thank **Queen of Poptarts** for bearing with me the spelling, and **Readerofthethings** for the review. xD

The plot thickens! Or not, I suppose. A few chapters later will be about the Olympians heading into the Manhattan Ball. And yes, references. How much I do love references. :D


	22. In Which Athena Hires A Trickster

Athena didn't trust the Therapist.

Sure, it might just be her instincts. Or maybe that the Therapist herself was inherently suspicious, what with her _past insanity_ and _craziness_ and all. (She'd read a bit on her background). Added to the fact that she was willing to _take on their case_ after the Olympians had killed/injured/severely maimed six other Therapists before her.

She wanted to ignore the feelings, but a nagging _something_ in Athena's mind told her that she shouldn't trust the Therapist. She had consulted Artemis on the subject matter, and Artemis agreed that she, too, was suspicious of the Therapist—because, simply put, with various traumatic experiences with monsters under Artemis' belt, Dr. Quinzel reminded Artemis of Medusa.

Artemis really should get Therapy on that.

But it didn't invalidate Artemis' point—after all, when she'd shown the Therapist the news about trees, she didn't seem particularly impressed or go something like: _''oh my god this is happening? Let me look at this!''_

The Therapist seemed as if she couldn't care less—and that was very suspicious. It was as if she'd much rather give them therapy and get drunk on wine rather than touch on the subject of _ravaging trees_ or other supernatural affairs.

All in one. Athena didn't trust Dr. Quinzel. Although the other Olympians _might_ trust the Therapist,they were mostly too dense to think otherwise or was just a bit too engrossed in their own affairs to notice something out-of-the-ordinary that was happening. Granted, Athena could be wrong, but there was about a 97.5% chance that she was right. Statistics.

 _Hmm..._ Athena thought as she scrolled through the internet, entering prompts into the _Hephaestus Search Engine_. One particular search yielded something interesting. On it displayed Dr. Quinzel's mother's name, birth date, and titles. It was very interesting indeed... but it wasn't enough.

Athena needed more info.

And Athena knew exactly how to get it.

* * *

Dr. Quinzel sighed as she rummaged through her papers absentmindedly. She was in the midst of writing up reports for the gods, and to be honest, having to remember the gods' _fake company and occupations_ was getting quite irritating. Dr. Quinzel _knew_ she had everything written down in a notepad _somewhere_...

Suddenly, her phone rung. Dr. Quinzel was about to press _mute_ button before she noticed the caller _ID._ Involuntarily, she let out a slight groan, and accepted the call. _Really?_

''This better not be about your vacation,'' Dr. Quinzel said once the line connected. Then, she realized how much authority was in her voice, and technically, Dr. Isley was the boss.

 _Goddamnit. The gods are rubbing off me._

''I mean... please?'' Dr. Quinzel added meekly. Thankfully, Dr. Isley didn't seem to notice, nor care.

 _''Have you heard about the Greek gods?''_

Dr. Quinzel stopped. ''What?''

The line shook irately, like an impatient beast. _''The Greek gods, Quinn. You know, the old gods they used to worship in Greece? Do you have any information on them?''_

Dr. Quinzel stared at the line. If only she could see the look of reasoning on Dr. Isley's face from the other side of the line. ''I—I've been checking out the myths,'' she admitted. Dr. Quinzel didn't think that blurting out: _oh, and the Greek gods still exist!_ would be a particularly good idea, so she said: ''But other than that, no, nothing much about Greek gods. Why do you ask?

Suddenly, a blast of red enveloped her vision. Groaning, Dr. Quinzel averted her eyes and realized that she was feeling the true form of an Olympian. Whispering to the phone, which had gotten scalding-hot in her hand, she said: _''Gotta go now. Bye, see you later!''_ and abruptly shut off the line.

The scarlet light subsided. Tentatively, Dr. Quinzel opened her eyes, and found a stoic Athena staring back at her.

Dr. Quinzel stuttered for words. ''Ah... hi, Athena. Why are you here?''

Athena's eyes flittered from her face to the phone on her hands. _Ah... crap._ ''I was going to ask something about Therapy, but it's obvious that you're... _busy.''_

Dr. Quinzel smiled shakily. Putting down her phone, she said: ''No, not at all! Just a... friend from work.''

Athena eyed Dr. Quinzel warily, before she said: ''That's fine. I forgot what I was about to ask anyway.''

She disappeared in a red light.

Dr. Quinzel sighed. _Why oh why did she become Therapist to the gods?_

* * *

''Hermes. Dionysus.'' Athena greeted as they entered the room. She summoned them after an impromptu _''get in here, immediately,''_ Iris-Message that she'd sent out to them. Hermes was scratching his head in confusion as he entered her chamber, George and Martha hissing on his caduceus, and Dionysus, who seemed to be lazily drinking… _water_ , surprisingly, in a bottle.

''What seems to be the issue, Athena?'' Hermes said, a little _too_ perkily. His snakes hissed in greeting on his caduceus, complete with polite _''hi's''_ and _''how's you doings''._ It was very suspicious. Athena mentally reminded herself to check her chamber to make sure that Hermes didn't take anything from there.

Dionysus yawned as he fidgeted with his bottle. ''Better question. Why did you bring us here?''

 _Ah…_

''I want you to help me on an investigation,'' Athena said, clearing her throat as she eyed Hermes' snakes warily, who was now making noises similar to _ooohs_ and _aahs_. ''It regards the Therapist.''

Hermes' eyes seemed to light up with mischief. He fingered his bag eagerly. ''Oh?''

Dionysus seemed a little more interested once she'd brought that up.

''You'll have to skip the Ball.'' At this, she got a few stares of dismay. Athena sighed. ''But would you do this for me? Please?'' she asked, and listed off what she wanted them to do.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'd like to thank **Sv007** for pointing out my mistake about Gaia in the previous chapter!


	23. In Which The Olympians Join A Ball

''Are you ready? Yes, you're ready,'' muttered Hephaestus to the mirror. ''Ready for Aphrodite.''

He straightened his tie and stared at the mirror uncomfortably. There was no need to be nervous, was there? It was just a date-night with his ex-wife. That was it.

But Ares would be there as well.

He grunted in annoyance. Fingering the automation in his pocket, he took it out and studied it. Carefully, he aimed it at the water faucet.

With a blast, it disappeared, transporting it to a dimension where no god would want to go.

Hephaestus smiled ruefully. It worked. He was ready.

* * *

The Ball was grander than what Hera had expected.

Sure, it was grand by _mortal_ standards, but as gods, Hera could appreciate it when a good party was made.

In the middle was a fountain colored with purple, matching the reflecting purple lights of the chamber. Everything—and every _one_ was touched by the color purple, from the floors to the windows to the people themselves. It was an interesting design choice, she supposed, though she wasn't a huge fan of the color herself.

Although a few mortals were staring at the Ball in distaste—notably a woman with black hair with a bottle of wine in her hand, complaining about the Ball to a groaning blonde woman—the Ball was to Hera's taste. It was impossible to please everyone, anyway.

Out of the corner of Hera's eye, she saw rows of food on tables, as mortals lined up with plates and forks to take from it. Hera assumed it was the Buffet.

In the center of the room, surrounding the fountain was many tables, decorated with flowing purple cloths and candles set on the table.

In the back of the room was the dance-floor, where a few mortals were slowly partying at, dancing to the rhythm of the music.

Hera set herself on one of the tables, and stared, onlooking the calm party. She understood why the Therapist chose this place. It really was quite nice.

* * *

''Hey, Ares?'' Hephaestus asked, as he straightened his tie in the mirror coolly. Ares had waltzed into the Males' Bathroom after he beat up some punks outside of the venue. He was currently washing off the dirt, grime, and blood off of his suit, which really wasn't a good sign for Hephaestus.

But that wasn't enough to make him back down.

Ares whipped over to the source of the sound. Once Ares realized who it was, he scowled and stalked over to Hephaestus, and lifted him up by the shirt. As Hephaestus glanced at the mirror, which saw Ares lifting him up by his tuxedo and tie, he really wished that he made a few upgrades to his leg mechanics—mostly a _grapple to the ground_ function that glued his feet to the floor.

By the very least, it would've been amusing to see Ares try to lift him.

''Listen up punk,'' Ares growled, as he suspended Hephaestus in the air. ''Today you'll set aside and let _me_ do the job. Aphrodite's _mine_. You don't talk. You don't touch her. Only I can.'' Ares shook Hephaestus with his fist in his shirt. ''Y'hear me?''

Hephaestus lifted up his hands in defeat. Ares smiled, until he saw the little device in between Hephaestus' thumb and palm.

Hephaestus smiled ruefully. He didn't need a _grapple to the ground_ function to defeat the puny War God. ''Goodbye, Ares,'' he croaked out, and pressed the red button.

Ares only had the time to widen his eyes when a loud _ZAP_ was heard and he was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

''Hey, Apollo,'' Artemis said as she put down her plate, and slid on the chair under Apollo's table. She took a glance at his empty plate. ''Still suck at choosing food, I see.''

Apollo scowled. ''It's not _my_ fault there's so much mortal food laid out for us! How can I just… _choose?''_

Artemis sighed. ''Just choose. It's not that hard.'' She began to eat her meal.

Apollo sighed dramatically as he wiped his arm over his head. ''It's like choosing which mortals to date! It's terrible!''

''As if I would know anything about that…'' muttered Artemis as she pushed her food around.

''Orion.'' Apollo smirked and he put down his fork.

She froze for a millisecond, but it was still evident. _Oh, gods, why did I do that?_ Apollo immediately regretted saying _his_ name. It was taboo, especially in Olympus; wherein anyone was liable to a beatdown if they ever dared to tease his name. Again: _why the hell did he do that?_

But a moment later, Artemis recovered and retorted. ''Daphne.''

Apollo froze. ''Oh come on!'' he complained. ''That's not fair.''

''Now you understand how I feel,'' she said with a smirk, but sadness was evident in her eyes.

He sighed. ''Yeah, whatever,'' Apollo muttered as he poked around his food.

A moment passed.

''… did you really feel sorry for killing him?'' Apollo looked up at a wistful Artemis. In an instant, guilt overwhelmed him. He… he couldn't say that he never _intended_ on killing Orion. He was jealous of Orion, for spending so much time with Artemis—time which should've been _his._ And so he convinced Artemis to shoot the dot in the distance, and in the blind vehemence at his boast she did; and just like that, Orion was dead.

But he didn't know the extent of the effect it would have on his sister.

''I—I am,'' he managed to stutter out. And quietly, he said: ''I'm still sorry.''

A silent moment passed.

''For what it's worth,'' Artemis said quietly. ''I'm sorry about what happened with Daphne and Hyacinth.''

She left without another word, leaving him to his food.

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow! I received quite a lot of reviews for the last chapter! :D I'd have to thank **SmallBobSkeletonKitty, Queen of Poptarts** , **graciewee2213** , **Sv007** , **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , and **mirashards69** for all your reviews! Regarding your questions, I'll try to add Percy/Annabeth in for a cameo, and maybe Grover/Juniper—I technically can't add any of the 7 (ie. Jason, Piper, Leo) because this is set after the Titan War and before the Giant War. My apologies about that! And **Sv007** , now that you point it out, I wish I added that in... it was a perfect opportunity. :')

 **Queen of Poptarts,** I think that hiring Hermes means that Athena is starting to take her suspicions seriously. (Also about the Gaia/Gaea spelling thing... I have no idea why there are two versions either). And **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl,** yes, you were (kinda) right! (gotta love foreshadowing :'D) **mirashards69,** about the Therapy School thing... sounds like Hestia should've considered that before she hired a Therapist! The next chapter'll be about the Ball—really sorry about the mistake in the last Chapter!

Quick question to you all: _What's your favorite pairing/ship?_

For me, it's Arion (Artemis/Orion) because it's brilliant and depressing at the same time. I'm currently working on a fic for Artemis/Orion, it will be a one-shot and rather angsty.


	24. In Which They Argue About Percabeth

''Poseidon,'' Athena said to the passing god coolly. He was currently picking at the Seafood available in the All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet in discontent. Mild irritation arose, but nevertheless, she pushed it down.

She was never a fan of the Sea god; she grudgingly respected him when competed her for Athens, disliked his audacity when he performed intercourse with Medusa in _her_ temple; and despised him when _his_ son decided to date _her_ daughter.

Athena didn't blame her daughter for it; but instead, she blamed the bastard Barnacle Beard for giving birth to _Perseus Jackson_ in the first place. If that didn't happen, then Olympus wouldn't've been in mortal danger, and she wouldn't need to stay up for nights, sketching battle plans, worrying about the prophecy lines _Olympus shall preserve or raze._

''Athena,'' Poseidon regarded just as coldly. He abruptly stopped poking the clams, and faced her. Crossing his arms and raising his head above her, he posed himself like a threat. But Athena wasn't afraid—she was a bloody _War Goddess_ , for gods' sake.

''My son is dating your daughter.'' He stated. It was a detached statement, but the blue fervor in his eyes gave it away.

''My _daughter_ is dating your son,'' she growled. Sizing him up, she said: '' _Because he seduced her in the first place!''_

''Oh, come on!'' Poseidon complained. ''Your daughter kissed my son first!''

''That's not the point!'' Fury flared from her eyes. His face just looked so… _punchable._

As their argument was descending into an all-out-brawl, out of the corner of her eye, Athena noticed that they were drawing a crowd. Poseidon must've noticed as well because he sighed. ''Let's drop it. We can't dictate their love lives, can we?''

Reluctantly, she grudgingly agreed. ''That is true. There's no point wasting, _ah,_ party-time for a petty argument. We'll leave it to them to sort out.''

* * *

''Where is Ares…?'' murmured Aphrodite as Hephaestus pulled out one of the seats from the three-person table and sat on it. He placed his bag on Ares' supposed seat and straightened his tie.

Hephaestus shrugged, tinkering with the device he used to zap Ares away. It was something he'd been working on since Hestia told them that they were going to Therapy Sessions. It was his insurance, in case one of the Olympians (namely Ares) got heated and tried to, well, murder him while they discussed their (mainly his) problems.

Technically Ares couldn't murder Hephaestus, but it was better safe than sorry, wasn't it?

''Huh… he's always been so possessive,'' muttered Aphrodite under her breath, but Hephaestus had heard it. ''Oh well.''

A tense silence passed between the two. It was Hephaestus who broke it: ''Want to eat?'' he suggested, gesturing to the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet stationed on the purple-clothed tables on the side. It almost seemed black under the strobe lights.

Aphrodite paused for a moment, before shrugging. ''Why not?'' she said, as they simultaneously took their plates towards the Buffet.

It was tense while they quietly picked their food. When they returned to their seats, they ate in equal silence. _Why did he think it was a good idea in the first place?_ thought Hephaestus as he pushed around his food with a spoon. _We have nothing to discuss—everything that's been done's done, and over._

'' _Why did you cheat on me with Ares_?'' he found himself thinking, but the words came out of his mouth faster than he could reel them back in.

''I—'' Aphrodite blurted, but Hephaestus didn't let her finish.

''Why did you do that to me…?'' croaked Hephaestus. The words poured out—words that were the reason of their tense silence came pouring out. ''You didn't have to cheat to let me know that you didn't love me. You could've told me. I'll understand if you couldn't love someone… like me.''

Hephaestus gestured to himself and his overalls and his crooked limbs, as he looked at Aphrodite desperately.

Aphrodite sighed, glancing at her food wistfully. She poked around the lettuce on her plate with her fork. ''I—I wasn't straight in the head, Hephaestus. I… I didn't love Ares. The talks about War and Murder and Hate never appealed to me. _I never had.''_

Perhaps the nature of the statement wouldn't've clicked for anyone else, but Hephaestus caught on. _I never had._

She had never truly loved Ares.

A sad chuckle. ''I wanted revenge on Hera… but not for pairing us up, but at her plain _audacity_. She could just step in and… _force_ me to be with another man. Like she could just command me like I was her subject—just because she was the Queen of Heavens, and what again? Goddess of Heifers?''

Hephaestus chuckled, but quiet sadness lined his features. ''Her cowardliness is enough to suggest that, I'd say.''

Aphrodite sighed and smiled sadly. ''I thought… well, if she was, so hell-bent on having a _functional_ family, then why couldn't I piss her off? Fool around with _her beloved son_ and watch her rage.'' A chuckle. Wiping something from her eye, she took a breath. ''I was looking for revenge… and you were caught in the crossfire.''

The _I'm so sorry_ echoed between them. And frankly, Hephaestus was okay with that.

Hephaestus stuck out his hand. ''I suppose… would you like to start over?''

Aphrodite let herself a small smile, as she took Hephaestus' hand. ''Yes… yes, I'd like that, very much.''

* * *

Ares screamed as he lunged at the immortal-proof walls. But as expected, nothing happened, except that he was forcibly thrown back at the same amount of force he threw at the wall.

It was immortal-proof, power-proof, and _everything_ proof. Nothing worked! He couldn't even teleport himself out of here! Even throwing the very out of place water faucet at the walls did nothing but bounce it back like a boomerang, which proceeded to smack him upside his face.

He decided that he hated this place more than he hated jars. Stupid construction sites.

Ares shook the dust off of him and gathered his bearings. Growling at the dome above him, he charged at the dome once again—and was knocked back with the same amount of force. But this time, he landed straight onto the jutting water-faucet on the floor.

Ares let out a girly shriek. His eyes bulged out, and he yelled: ''NOT FUNNY, HEPHAESTUS!''

* * *

 **A/N:** I'd like to thank **Sv007** , **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl,** and **Queen of Poptarts** for sharing your favorite ships! Have to agree, Percabeth rules all. ;D Gotta ship the gods' ships too though, as long as we don't think of it too technically... _coughs._ Also, **Sv007** , thank you for the explanation about the two Greek languages—I never knew about that! My apologies if Hephaestus seemed a bit OOC in the last chapter (and maybe in this one too), but that might be attributed to his feelings about Aphrodite.

If any of you are wondering—don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Therapist's plot! However, these chapters will be mostly be dedicated to solving the gods' problems via the Ball. _Why does this sound familiar?_

 **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , hehe, sadly the Ball is set in the summer... nice references ;D And welp, guess the ship's named after a horse... whoops. xD

And **Sv007,** well… I guess you can say Ares's got _deconstructed_.

I'll show myself out.


	25. In Which They Argue Some More

Percy grinned at his girlfriend as they took a slow-dance at the dance-floor. Annabeth sighed for what was probably the thirtieth time as Percy accidentally stepped on her toes.

'' _Whoops, whoops,_ sorry Annabeth,'' he muttered sheepishly. Annabeth gave him an exasperated eye roll, and sighed a _''Seaweed Brain,''_ before they continued with their dance.

Percy's eyes wandered through the Ball. It was a nice place, really. He understood why his mom had recommended him the place now. His eyes passed the purple food (why couldn't it be blue instead?), the luminous purple lamps, and finally rested on the people sitting in the tables in the Ball. There were many people, from old to young, from mortal to… god.

He stifled a scream. Was that… _Poseidon? His father?_ And what was he doing with… _Athena_? _Annabeth's mom?_

Percy nudged his girlfriend. ''Um, Annabeth,'' he said, and pointed to the deities.

Annabeth's eyes widened. ''What the Hades are they doing here?'' she swore, stepping over Percy's feet as she tried to get a closer look. Percy winced. He understood why Annabeth was annoyed when he stepped on her feet now.

After a while, Annabeth murmured: ''They look... _angry_ at each other.'' Suddenly, her gaze returned to Percy with wide-eyes. Percy stared at her in confusion, until she said: '' _I think they're talking about us.''_

'' _Di immortals,_ '' Percy muttered. ''We _definitely_ shouldn't bug them, then,'' he said as he stared at his grumpy father. _Huh_.

''I think we should pretend this never happened,'' he said as he eyed the two irritated Olympians. Then, a smile popped on his face, as he held out a hand. ''Wanna dance?''

Sighing in exasperation at her boyfriend's antics, she took his hand, but not before saying: ''Percy, I swear, if you step on me _one more time_...''

* * *

''Barnacle Beard,'' grunted Athena as she set down her food next to Poseidon's table. Poseidon let out a grunt once he saw her, but nevertheless, he didn't tell her to lay off or leave—which was a good sign, for now.

''Owlhead,'' he retorted back.

A tense moment passed, as the two gods nibbled on their food. Finally, Poseidon sighed, and put down his fork. ''Clearly, you've come here for something, Athena. If you'd like to say something, please spit it out already.''

Athena put down her fork and looked at Poseidon. She didn't know what she should be contemplating—the issue she came to talk about, or his audacity. She settled for both.

''Firstly, Poseidon, we won't _ever_ communicate properly if we keep up with the insults. Secondly, _you know what I'm here for._ To continue our discussion, so to speak.''

Athena took a glance towards the couple on the dance floor, as Percy tried to twirl Annabeth, but miserably failed instead as his daughter crashed dizzily into his son. Biting back a sigh, she crossed her arms and looked at the Sea God.

''It's not my fault,'' Poseidon offered weakly. ''Percy did that, not me.''

''Because he has your brains,'' Athena scoffed. But then, her expression softened as she contemplated Poseidon's irritated expression. ''However, I did say that I was here for a civilized discussion—and not insults.'' A sigh. ''So shall we talk about our children, then?''

''I can't say I truly approve of Percy being with Annabeth,'' Poseidon grunted. ''After all, she is _your_ child. She will hurt him.''

''Is your child any better?'' Athena growled. ''Idiotic. Impulsive. If I'd have to say it, Poseidon _—if Perseus Jackson makes a terrible friend_ , then what does that make for a boyfriend, then?''

''You're just annoyed he made the Palace Athena joke,'' Poseidon grumbled. But he shut up once Athena sent him a glare. Pallas was a sensitive subject for Athena, and even if he disliked her, he wouldn't wish that sort of pain on his worst enemy.

But then, when Athena seemed as if she was about to retort, she stopped herself. Athena gave a forlorn sigh. ''I—I don't hate Perseus, Poseidon. _I don't._ I care for Annabeth more than I do Perseus—and so, should it not be more obvious who I care for the most?'' A chuckle came from her. Athena's grey eyes turned steely. ''But mostly, Perseus had used to remind me _of you.''_ Athena stared at Poseidon, straight in the eye. ''And I have no love for your personality.''

Poseidon was about to retort in indignation until Athena held up a hand ''But—I know better now,'' she admitted, albeit grudgingly. ''My judgment towards you reflected onto your son as well. But you're two different people. I can see that.''

Poseidon sighed. ''Same here,'' he admitted. ''I can't say I'm a fan of you either, Athena, and I guess that had extended to Annabeth as well. I… perhaps it's time I judge Annabeth based on _herself_ , and not you.'' He glanced at the War Goddess for a moment. ''If that makes any sense.''

Athena gave him a small, rueful smile. ''Let's set aside our differences for our children, yes?''

''Agreed,'' murmured Poseidon, as he stared on at Percy and Annabeth, the couple of the dance floor, as they twisted and twirled with the occasional foot-stepping. They looked happy. Poseidon wasn't about to ruin that.

He stuck out his hand. ''Deal?''

Athena shook his hand, but her eyes weren't focused on him—instead, it was on her daughter, laughing as she danced happily with her boyfriend amid the purple lights. ''Deal.''

* * *

''Hello?''

 _''I need the files on the gods.''_

''Wait, how—'' Dr. Quinzel stopped. ''Haha, very funny,'' she said weakly. ''Gods don't exist.''

 _''Don't kid me, Quinn. You know what I'm talking about.''_

The line stuttered. ''… what do you mean?''

 _''The gods lied to you. All of them. Now, will you help me or them?''_

She stopped. ''Wait a second—what do you mean?''

The line paused for a moment as if the receiver was contemplating. But a moment later, it crackled to life:

 _''Listen to me, Quinn. They lied to you. they used you for their own gains. Hell, they gave you your insanity.''_

The line stopped. ''What did you just say?''

* * *

 **A/N** : Ooh, cliffhanger! :D

 **Sv007** , I really appreciate the thought you put into your reviews! :D Hera is a rather complex character, since in Percy's words: _''She can be the perfect Mother one day and throw babies out of the windows the next.''_ As for the ship name… Theathena? Atheseus? xD I think their interactions in Percy Jackson & the Greek Gods were quite intriguing. :D Anyways, thank you for the ideas — I'll see what I can do. :D

 **Death Fury** **,** thank you for the constant stream of reviews! xD I'm glad you liked the story!

And **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , to be fair, almost everything in life can be made into a reference. :'D You'll see what happens to Ares later on, and I agree with you on the _why-did-you-cheat-on-me_ dillemia between Aphrodite and Hephaestus. There's just so much to it that can't be simplified in a few words.

And as always, thanks for reading!


	26. In Which Things Happen

''So, how's that design been going?'' Aphrodite asked Hephaestus curiously as he showed her a… small square contraption with a button on it. She wasn't entirely impressed, but then again, everything wasn't exactly what they seemed on the surface — take Hephaestus, for example.

''Ah…'' Hephaestus cleared his throat, as his complexion flushed red. He fidgeted with the small contraption, as Aphrodite watched it dance around between his fingers. ''It basically _teleports_ things into various destinations. Thought it'd be a convenient design for easy Olympus teleportation.'' Shrugging, he said: ''We won't even need to bother about powers at all.''

Aphrodite quirked an eyebrow. ''Oh?'' She'd love a break from teleporting into Olympus and her palace front-and-back again. The flashes of pink light made love triangles so hard to set up!

''Recently tested it on a live subject.'' Hephaestus let out a grunt of disdain. ''Think it worked.''

But then, Hephaestus stopped, as he stared at something—no, _someone_ in the distance. Following his eyes, Aphrodite noticed a couple on the dance-floor.

Specifically, her one-true-pairing.

Aphrodite glanced at Percy, dancing with Annabeth. Her heart filled with squealing as she fervently thought up new ship names for the couple. _Chackson? Annacy? Oh, there it was..._ _Percabeth!_

Meanwhile, Hades, who was busy picking his food, noticed Aphrodite's not-so-subtle squeals. He looked over at her, and then to who she was looking at.

 _What in my name is that kid doing here?_ thought Hades, grunting as he stared at the figure of _Perseus Jackson_ with his girlfriend Annabeth. Beside him was his Satyr compainion and what seemed to be a Dryad. He was not a fan of the upstart demigod, although he had to begrudgingly tolerate his presence—after all, he _did_ save Olympus, despite being a son of Poseidon.

 _If only Nico was the prophecy child…_ But alas, the God of the Dead could only wish, as he plucked some bacon for his wife Persephone.

* * *

Dr. Quinzel really needed a drink.

Sighing, as she threw away the last available bottle into the trash, she contemplated buying more booze. Usually, she wouldn't've drunk this much, but _this_ particular situation called for _particular_ solutions.

Her eyes wandered back to the phone call from Dr. Isley earlier. Dr. Quinzel mentally sighed as she thought about the conversation...

''The gods lied to you. All of them. Now, will you help me or them?''

She stopped. ''Wait, what do you mean they lied to me.''

The line paused for a moment, as if the receiver was contemplating. But a moment later, it crackled to life:

 _''You're no ordinary mortal, Quinn. You're a demigod.''_

 _''What?'' Her eyes widened. What did Dr. Isley mean?_

 _''You're a daughter of Dionysus. It's why you see your visions.''_

 _Dr. Quinzel stopped. After her erratic heartbeat returned to normal, she started again: ''I—I don't understand—''_

 _''You don't need to.'' the voice from the other line snapped. ''Now, give me the files.''_

 _What files? But then, she remembered **the** files—notes she'd taken, stray observations, everything she'd noted down about the Olympians. Dr. Isley couldn't possibly mean **those files,** could she? ''I—can't—''_

 _''Why? Patient-doctor confidentiality? Pah, I don't care. You're not even officially a Doctor, anyway.''_

 _''But—''_

 _''Listen to me, Quinn.'' Then, the line became impossibly low. ''They **lied** to you. They **used** you for their own gains. Hell, they gave you your **insanity**.''_

 _That was when she finally stopped, as she truly digested the information Dr. Isley had thrown at her. ''What?''_

 _''A result of being a daughter of Dionysus. You receive visions—a consequence of remaining unclaimed by Dionysus.'' The line scoffed. ''Most demigods are claimed at the age of 12. Not long enough for the visions to manifest—or certainly, short enough for them to forget about them. Clearly, they've— **he's** — forgotten about you.''_

 _Dr. Quinzel stopped._ Take slow breaths, _she thought, but they were quick, fast. Her mind wandered back to her visions. She thought about the purple, flickering lights. The fear in her heart, as she stumbled for a diagnosis that just wasn't there. The distrust of her mind, not trusting her eyes, not believing what she saw. All the visions…_

 _''Fine,'' she choked out, as her mind yielded a furious, ironic laugh. ''What do you want?''_

 _''Their weaknesses. I need—'' A hiss came from the other side. ''I need to take them down.''_

Yeah. Dr. Quinzel really needed to buy booze.

After all, 7/Eleven was just around the corner.

* * *

''I hate mortal travel,'' Dionysus grunted, as he shambled towards Dr. Quinzel's office.

Hermes shrugged, as he stared at Dionysus. ''Dude! You can't say that. It took, like, what?'' he scowled. ''—twenty-so minutes? I mean, you can't teleport everywhere!'' he sighed in exasperation.

''Well, let me clarify,'' Dionysus said, clearing his throat. ''I hate walking in general. Now, can we...?'' he asked, gesturing towards the locked drawers.

Hermes gave Dionysus an easy grin. ''What did you think I was here for?'' he said, as he dangled a bunch of keys from his hand.

* * *

''Wait for her face when she sees this!'' Hermes said mischievously as he rifled through their papers. ''Aha! Here's her file!''

He passed it to Dionysus, who was standing around in the office, keeping watch for Hermes. Lazily, Dionysus flicked through the pages, until one document caught his eye. He opened it, expecting something boring—

But the contents made him freeze.

It was a personal profile on their Therapist, Dr. Quinzel. Four Ph.D.'s in Psychiatry, some family history... mostly boring stuff.

But it was the name that stuck out to him. Specifically, the _Mother's name_ part.

On the top read Frances Quinzel.

Distinctly, a memory poked at him—a memory of a Frances Quinzel twenty-four years ago, impressing him with her psychology degree in a bar, as they drank wine and revelled for the night. And they—

He froze. Flicking through the pages in his mind, he tried to recall the past...

 _''I'd hate to get you drunk,'' Dionysus said, a silly drunken grin plastered on his face, as he stared at the twenty-or-so woman in front of him._

 _''Oh, yeah?'' the woman challenged. ''Bet I can drink more than you.''_

He remembered that night. He remembered the drunken cheer. And most of all, he remembered—

 _Frances Quinzel had a daughter._

 _He and Frances Quinzel had a daughter._

Harleen Quinzel was his daughter.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yay, cliffhangers, gotta love em! :D

 **Sv007** , thank you once again for the in-depth review! Hopefully this chapter cleared some things up. :) On the Hephaestus/Aphrodite subject, I'll see if I can fit in some scenes with them in the future, though that depends because I have some things scheduled up for the next chapters. :D

 **Queen of Poptarts** **,** who doesn't love some Percabeth? ;D And **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , sadly I can't promise a bargaining chip-esque situation... but we'll see what happens in the next few chapters!


	27. In Which There's An Awkward Conversation

To be fair, Dionysus should've known.

With the last name and all.

But still.

He could only stare at the document as words swirled in his mind, most of them starting with _''what the—''_ and ending in numerous expletives.

Dionysus sat there for a long time, staring at the document until Hermes, concerned, asked him: ''You okay, bro?''

He nodded numbly and put down the documents on the Therapist's desk. _His daughter's desk._

 _He and Hermes were rummaging through his daughter's files._

Dionysus let out a mental groan. This _is so surreal._

* * *

The glass bottles of wine dropped to the floor with a crash before they managed to poof away.

''Dionysus,'' Dr. Quinzel said, her voice sounding strained. ''And Hermes. What are you doing here?''

For a Trickster god, Hermes sure was late in coming up with excuses. ''I—I, uh…'' he stuttered before Dionysus sent him a glare to shut him up.

''We were just… ah, checking up with content,'' Dionysus said smoothly. ''I—I think we'll be leaving now.''

''Oh no, you _don't,''_ the Therapist snarled in unbidden anger. She stalked towards him, ignoring the glass shards and spilled wine on the floor until she was eye-to-eye with Dionysus. '' _Father.''_ she spat like it was a curse.

If Hermes wasn't stuttering before, he was now. ''Wait… _F—father?''_ He questioned, his eyes wide.

Dionysus ushered Hermes out of the room. ''It's a family matter, Hermes,'' Dionysus said sternly before he could make a _''Luke, I am your father!''_ joke. Then, he slammed the door in the Trickster god's face.

''I—I'm really sorry.'' was the first words that exited his mouth.

''Why didn't you tell me?'' Pain, anger, hurt and fear were all evident on her face. She stalked towards her chair and sank into it. Dr. Quinzel stared at the Wine God, hurt in her eyes. '' _Why?''_

''I… I didn't know,'' he mumbled truthfully. It was true. He'd completely forgotten about his affair… until now.

Dr. Quinzel almost choked with laughter. '' _Daughter of Dionysus._ You know, I didn't know either, until Isley told me about it. The visions. The purple auras. The _insanity,''_ she said, a pained smile on her face.

''You made me spill—'' and then, she caught herself. Silence overwhelmed the duo until finally, it was Dionysus that spoke.

''I understand. I'm a terrible father. I get that. And I don't expect you to forgive me, but…'' and then, he looked at his _daughter_ , solemnly. Suddenly, a symbol appeared over the Therapist's head. It was a purple symbol made of grapevines, the ones that were used to make wine.

Dr. Quinzel stared at the symbol above her head, almost in slight awe. Dionysus walked towards his daughter. ''I understand if you can't forgive me. But... let me try to make it up for you,'' he said quietly. '' _Please_.''

Sniffling, her false smile dropped. Dr. Quinzel let the tears flow, and then, she felt two warm hands, holding her shoulders comfortingly. Perhaps she never knew her father truly, but his aura felt familiar. Calming, even.

''I won't forget again,'' Dionysus promised his daughter. ''I won't.''

* * *

''There's—'' Dr. Quinzel said quietly after the tears stopped. She wiped them away quickly and sniffled. _Damnit, this was embarrassing. She was supposed to be an adult, for gods' sake, not a sniffling child._

But feeling the warm embrace of _her father_ made her feel like a child again. And somehow, even though she knew that she was supposed to hate him—and damn rightfully so—she was glad there was someone to pull her out of the deep pits of insanity at all.

Quietly, Dr. Quinzel said: ''There's—there's something you should know.''

Dionysus was confused, but nevertheless said: ''Yes?''

Dr. Quinzel coughed awkwardly and hoped that their newfound father-daughter relationship would save her from being blasted into oblivion. ''I've, uh, sorta-not-really told my boss about the gods' secret. And—'' Dr. Quinzel rushed on before Dionysus could butt in, as she recalled the unnatural snarls, hisses, and demands from her boss, ''— _I think she's the monster in the newspapers you guys were talking about.''_

Dionysus seemed surprised but quickly hid it. ''Okay. And…?''

He was taking it surprisingly well, despite being an Olympian and all. Dr. Quinzel decided that Dionysus was actually pretty level-headed when he wasn't drunk. She kinda liked him for that.

''She's going after them. The Olympians.'' Then, Dr. Quinzel's voice lowered to a whisper. ''And then, she's gonna come for me.''

* * *

Dionysus stared at his daughter for a moment, before he shook his head. ''Not gonna happen.''

''I don't see how we're gonna stop her,'' Dr. Quinzel said ruefully.

Then, Dionysus remembered a place Hephaestus showed him. It was an abandoned Construction Site in Manhattan, except that there was a dome protecting it, shading it from mortals and demigods' unwanted eyes. _It was a new, backup-design,_ Hephaestus had said, _meant for his best friend's eyes only._ Apparently, it was everything-proof and served as a backup plan, which Hephaestus had made in the wake of the Titan War.

What can't get in, can't get out.

''I know a place,'' Dionysus said grimly, as they flashed away in a bright purple light.

* * *

Hermes was just humming his favorite tune when the flash of purple light appeared from the Therapist's Office.

''Hey, wait!'' yelled Hermes outside, as he saw the remains of the bright light emit from the glass walls. Despondently he said: ''What about me?''

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! By the way, I'll be posting a Story about Artemis & Orion later on — it's called Blind Stars, and it involves Artemis and the Hunter's relationship from the very beginning to his death. It will be rather angsty. Not sure if it'll be a one-shot or multi-chap or not, so if you're interested you can tell me what you prefer. :D

 **Sv007** \- I do think that a Hephaestus/Ares/Aphrodite love triangle would be interesting, and hopefully I get to explore some of that. :D About the Ethan Nakamura thing, I was about to go down that route but I decided against it. Some perspective from the gods about the Therapist would be... interesting, to say the very least. Hopefully. ;)

 **Yugiohbrony2016** , well, not every ship is to everyone's taste! If you're looking for Pertemis… may I direct you to Catastrophe Finale's fic _Twisted Reality,_ if you haven't read it already? It's amazing. :D I also have _(coughs totally not shameless advertising)_ a fic called Raze... oh boy.

 **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , Dionysus definitely needs to stop his Drink-and-Driving. Or shall I say, Drinking-and-Teleporting?


	28. In Which Nature Strikes

Things were going great at the party!

At least, that was what Apollo thought. Scanning through the crowd, he noted a few gods—and demigods too! To say he was surprised was somewhat of an understatement. After all, who knew that the demigods had such taste in a Ball?

He noticed Percy and Annabeth, who was dancing. Apollo mentally approved of their choice. Among the tables, he could see Grover and Juniper who were enjoying their vegetarian meal. He couldn't find Hermes or Dionysus anywhere though, which was weird, since he knew they loved a good party. And of course, he himself was flirting with an uninterested woman as he shared his bunch of booze. But hey, what could you do?

''Do you want to hear another haiku?'' Apollo asked the woman hopefully as he poured some wine into her cup.

''No,'' she grunted in response, as she downed the cup of wine in one go and wrestling the bottle of booze from his hands, drank that one too.

Apollo felt slightly miffed. _Did his haikus really suck that much?_

But as he was about to say '' _hey babe, don't do that!''_ to the drunk mortal as she called the counter for _more wine_ , an uninvited guest crashed the party.

Apollo's eyes widened when his gaze landed on the said _uninvited guest._ He recognized that face, glowing a dark-green with mortal rage, as it razed and destroyed anything and everything to its heart's liking.

The Avatar of Nature.

It let out an unholy shriek and landed on top of Aphrodite and Hephaestus' table. Aphrodite screamed, and backed away from the snarling creature. Hephaestus seemed stunned for a moment before his eyes hardened and he threw a— _wait, what was that? A fireball?—_ at the creature.

The creature snarled, but its glowing limb caught the fireball in the air. Instead of, well, burning the Avatar of Nature's arm off, the fireball sizzled and spluttered until it was no more.

 _Ah crap._

Growling, the Avatar of Nature swiped a hand at Aphrodite, its claws raking the goddess' skin. Ichor spurted from Aphrodite's arm, as she let out a shriek and backed away from the Avatar. The Avatar of Nature then seemed to take something... from the table? Apollo squinted. He couldn't see it clearly, but yeah, it was definitely _something._

 _Double crap._

Then, its eyes followed through the crowd, fixating on each and every Olympian. Him included. Apollo gulped. It was like the Avatar of Nature could... _sense_ their scent or something!

Then, suddenly, the Avatar of Nature's eyes riveted away from the Olympians, as it fixed on something and snarled, as its— _no, her! It was a her!_ — eyes landed on a Dryad. Juniper.

Apollo mentally prepared himself for the splattered Dryad juice that would go everywhere. It was like pollination. Why were they so hard to wash off?

But then, Grover screeched. All the mortals cowered, gasping in pain. Even the gods winced at the unholy sound, dropping to the floor in pain. The Avatar of Nature snarled in fury as she grasped ferally at her ears, trying to rid the pain of the shriek.

''Incapacitate it!'' Athena yelled amidst Grover's screech. '' _Now!''_

Whilst holding his poor ears, Apollo glanced around the room. All of the Olympians were staring at him, as they cowered on the floor, like they were waiting for him to finish the job.

 _Why must it be him?_

''Fine!'' Apollo groaned in indignation, as he crawled towards the Avatar of Nature with his hands cupping his ears, who was floating above one of the tables, snarling at the pain as green fury shook from her skin.

 _He was so close!_

Apollo could almost feel the Avatar of Nature's fury radiating off her like a bonfire. But of course, just as he neared the feral creature, it vanished in a flash.

The unholy shriek had died down. Tentatively, Apollo removed his hands from his ears. All of the Olympians seemed dazed at the events that had perspired, and honestly, Apollo didn't blame them.

''Panic?'' questioned Apollo, as groaned, got up and strode towards the Satyr. He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice—after all, the Satyr did fetch his fourth Celedon that had gone off the handle.

Grover let out a tired bleat. ''Yeah. I'm a bit… panicky. Sorry about that.''

Apollo bit back a scowl, and clapped Grover on the back. ''Good job. But next time, can you tone it down a little?'' Dramatically, he wiped his hand over his forehead. ''Alas, my poor, sensitive hearing!''

Grover seemed visibly terrified. He thought about the time when he accidentally scratched Apollo's lyre. Not fun. ''N—no problem, Lord Apollo.''

Percy frowned as he walked towards Apollo. The music had long stopped. His mouth opened and closed without forming any sound, as if he was trying to work out a sentence but couldn't say it.

Apollo was about to offer some prescriptions when Percy exclaimed: ''What in _Tartarus_ just happened?''

* * *

Athena explained everything.

Everything except for the _Gaia_ part, of course. It would be… unfruitful to say _her_ name, especially with an audience around. She didn't want her daughter to worry either.

Percy's jaw dropped. ''What do you mean, _it's an Avatar of Nature?''_ He stared at the Olympians incredulously. ''What's an Avatar of Nature anyway?''

Annabeth sighed, and put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. Unconsciously, Athena's hand tightened into a fist, before relaxing it as she remembered her and Poseidon's pact. ''It's a Spirit, Seaweed Brain. It's been around for a long time, since—'' But then, her brow furrowed. ''—that's funny. I don't remember when it came from.''

''That's okay,'' Athena rushed on, much to the surprise of the other Olympians. She gave them a knowing glare. ''Either way, we have to hunt down this Spirit. Whether if we like it or not. It wields the power to kill immortals. Just... take Aphrodite for an example. It's… simply too _dangerous_.''

''Alright, then,'' Zeus rumbled. ''You heard the lady. Now, where do we start?''

* * *

''We'll help!'' Percy blurted out, as Annabeth nodded determinedly.

''Wha— _no!''_ Poseidon stated, as he folded his arms. ''Percy, you will _not_ help us.

''That includes you, Annabeth,'' Athena said, raising her eyebrows. Annabeth began to protest, but she was shut down by Athena's glare.

''But—''

Athena sighed. How was she going to convince her daughter to leave? Despite her feats, her daughter wasn't immortal, like they _were_. She couldn't afford to lose Annabeth— _especially_ to a spawn of Gaia. But then, Poseidon stepped up.

''Look,'' he rumbled, as he looked at the two protesting demigods meaningfully. ''We understand that you want to help. But tonight— _and I'm pretty sure that it was—_ supposed to be your night of fun. You don't have to fight every monster you come across.'' Poseidon looked at Percy. ''Really. Just... count it in as a break, a thank-you from us after you saved Olympus, wouldn't you? Go have fun. Forget about us. We can handle it.''

Annabeth sighed, and nudged Percy. ''You know... it's true. If the gods can handle it, then we really shouldn't worry about the Avatar. After all...'' and then, her gaze wandered to one of the guests in the Ball, ''—we have enough monsters to deal with already.''

Sighing, Percy nodded. ''Alright then, Wise Girl. I guess...'' and at this point, he glanced at Poseidon, and then at Athena. ''... good luck on defeating the Avatar of Nature.''

Reluctantly, they abided, and walked out with a worried Grover and Juniper out of the now-ruined Ball, without looking back.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for your reviews everyone! It really put a smile to my face. :) Glad you all liked the previous chapter!

 **Queen of Poptarts** \- Haha glad you like it! Drinking indeed. And for that theory… sounds interesting, my headcanon is actually the opposite. xD Mind sharing? :D

 **Sv007** \- Poor Hermes, always gets forgotten... it's good to hear that you liked the last chapter! :D And with psychiatrists being the children of Dionysus? That does explain a lot, come to think about it! xD Anyways, I do agree that Hermes is quite the interesting character... with his deal with Hades with guiding the souls and all and becoming Apollo's friend despite stealing his cattle.

 **GuardianXAngel** \- You got it! :D Harleen Quinzel, haha... smallish Easter Egg I added in. :') However, I don't think I'll be going in the direction of her path to the Joker... you'll see why soon!


	29. In Which They Deal With The Aftermath

''Aphrodite,'' Hephaestus said, glancing at his ex-wife worriedly as he noticed the slick coating of Ichor down her arm.

Aphrodite winced as she held her hand to stem the Ichor flow. ''Don't worry,'' he heard her murmur. ''It's… better than it looks.''

Hephaestus' brow furrowed as he gazed at the influx of Ichor. The flow seemed to be worsening by the moment. ''Seems kinda bad.''

Aphrodite sighed as she gripped the wound tighter. ''Never knew that those pesky Avatars could hurt us.''

Hephaestus only grunted in response. He'd get Apollo to look over the wound, but Apollo was currently glaring at the whimpering Satyr who used Pan's Cry. In other instances, Hephaestus wouldn't care, but the look in Apollo's eyes reminded him of the time when Apollo flayed the Satyr Marsyas alive. Not fun.

Hephaestus' gaze returned to Aphrodite. ''Know anyone that heals wounds that isn't the God of the Sun?''

Aphrodite groaned. ''Yeah, I do. But you won't like it.''

Hephaestus inclined his head. Aphrodite took in a breath. ''It's Ares.''

''Alright,'' Hephaestus grunted as he patted his clothes for his Teleportation Device. ''I'm gonna go grab him.''

He'd stuck Ares in the domed Construction Site earlier, which he'd rented from some, let's say, susceptible mortals. He cast a dome over it with a friend's help.

Well, technically, he wouldn't call her _a friend._ After all, Hecate did help the Titans in the Titan War, albeit even if it was a bit misguided. But Hephaestus didn't mind, as long as Hecate could still craft magic, it was good enough for him.

His Device, which he'd aptly named the Teleportation Device, allowed for easy teleportation. However, after searching his coat-pockets for it, he _still_ couldn't find it. Just where did he misplace it?

''Uh…'' Hephaestus said as he looked at his ex-wife as he abruptly stopped his searching. She was glancing at him curiously while gripping her hand on the Ichor flow tighter. Even though Aphrodite didn't show it, Hephaestus knew it hurt.

He probably misplaced his Teleportation Device on the _insides_ of his clothes… and Hephaestus was really in no mood to find it.

After a glance of curiosity from Aphrodite, Hephaestus grunted, and manually teleported himself into the Construction Site.

…

And then, after seeing Ares' look of astonishment, Hephaestus immediately regretted it.

You see, Hephaestus needed the Teleportation Device to teleport out of the domed Construction Site, and the device was currently… trapped in his pockets. And he couldn't _exactly_ take off his coat and take his time to try and find it while being in a dome with a furious War God that wanted to murder you for trapping him in there. Which meant he was sorta-kinda-not-really trapped in here.

 _''Y'WANNA FIGHT, FIRE GOD?!''_ Ares screamed at Hephaestus, once his astonishment wore off and was replaced with rage. His eyes glowed a degree of red rage and his fists mirrored the flames. Even if Hephaestus was the God of Fire, he decided that taking those fists would likely hurt.

Hephaestus wanted to growl and transport his hammer to his hands and pummel Ares mercilessly, but instead, he gave a grunt and held up his hands. ''I'm not here for a fight, Ares,'' he said smoothly.

 _''OH, YEAH?''_ The War God brandished his fists like it was knives. _''THEN WHY DID YOU TRANSPORT ME HERE, HUH? WHY DID_ ** _YOU_** _COME HERE? SEEMS LIKE YOU WANT TO FIGHT FOR THE WOMAN LIKE A MAN!''_

Hephaestus' ears were getting tired of Ares' whining. His yells were nothing compared to the bangs and screeches of his forge. Waving his held-up hands, he muttered under his breath: ''I'm here to get you out, you pathetic excuse of a War God.''

But by then, Ares was already charging, _reasoning_ and _talking_ long gone. _''THIS IS FOR APHRODITE!''_ he screamed, his fist above his head as he charged at the Fire God.

''Ares!'' Hephaestus grunted as he dodged Ares' flaming fisticuffs. He really wanted to say _now is not the time_ but instead, he said: ''Sure, try coming after me, you bumbling baby.''

''Oh, yeah?'' Ares growled as he readied his fists to pummel on the god of Fire, but Hephaestus rolled out of the way in the last second. _''WELL I WAS BORN BEFORE YOU!''_

Hephaestus' eyes flared. Growling, as he got up from the ground, he said: ''Doesn't make you any better than me.''

''I'M BETTER THAN YOU! I'M ALWAYS BETTER THAN YOU!'' Ares screeched. His eyes glowed a degree purple with anger. _''You don't deserve Aphrodite,''_ he growled.

Hephaestus' eyes almost bulged out in surprise. '' _Deserve_?'' He spluttered. ''She cheated on me!''

Ares shook a fist at him in raw anger, his eyes maniacal. _''First Hera tricks me. Then you take her from me. At least I could be the ''secret boyfriend'', but YOU busted that as well! And now—''_ Ares shook his fist in unbridled rage. _''—AND NOW YOU!''_

Hephaestus grunted in annoyance and readied his own fists. ''' _And now you',_ '' he mimicked. ''Really?''

 _''WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE!''_ Ares growled desperately, as he flung his fists in fury.

''I'm here to—'' but before Hephaestus could say _get you out,_ Ares stuck down in blind fury.

As Ares' fists descended, Hephaestus punched Ares in the nose. Ares let out a roar of pain, and staggered backward, clutching his bleeding nose. Hephaestus got up with a huff.

''I'm here to get you out, Ares,'' Hephaestus grunted out, with a surprising degree of begrudging acceptance. He extended a hand, and fingered for his Teleportation Device, wherever it was. ''C'mon.''

But then, a figure appeared into the Construction Site with a bright green blast.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading! And just a quick note that my new Fic, _Blind Stars_ is up! It's about (as you may have guessed), Artemis and Orion. Because why not? :D

 **Sv007** , glad you liked the previous chapter! :D About the OOCness, it was supposed to mirror '' _Trials of Apollo'''s_ _Apollo's_ personality, if that makes any sense—my apologies if it was a little off! And now that you mention it... Artemis should've definitely been the one. :')


	30. In Which Things Go Down

The Avatar of Nature's eyes narrowed as it glanced at the two Olympians. Hephaestus abruptly dropped his extended hand at Ares, as both War God and Fire God stopped fighting to stare at the floating Nature Avatar above.

''Ah, flummery,'' Hephaestus grumbled as the Avatar of Nature, snarling, conjured something in her palm, and shot a flaming-green fireball at Hephaestus.

Hephaestus ducked, and he heard the ground sizzle behind him. It crackled with green aridity, and Hephaestus decided that it probably was worse getting hit by the Avatar of Nature than Ares.

Grunting, Hephaestus patted his body for the Teleportation Device. _Just where in Hades did he put it?_ he thought.

Ares must've noticed Hephaestus' visible annoyance because he let out an unholy screech, parable to the Avatar of Nature's. _''WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!''_ He screamed and pointed towards the snarling Nature Avatar. _''WE NEED TO KILL IT!''_

Hephaestus only let out an annoyed grunt in response while he rummaged for the Teleportation Device, as the Nature Avatar cocked its head at the two Gods questioningly, as if it, too, was surprised that they weren't trying to kill it.

 _How did the Avatar of Nature even get in?_ Hephaestus wondered. There was only one way in and out for non-gods, and that was the Teleportation Device.

Realisation dawned. Hephaestus' eyes widened once he saw his device in the Avatar of Nature's palm. He needed that!

The Avatar of Nature, noticing his wide eyes, closed her fist with a smash.

He heard the crinkling noise of metal and glass.

Hephaestus was rendered speechless. His eyes widened at the sight of the destroyed Teleportation Device outstretched Avatar of Nature's palm—but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ares take out a Horn. A War Horn, to be exact. It reminded Hephaestus of Heimdall's Horn, which was another subject entirely that he _really_ didn't need to get into. He didn't need the reminders of the days when Ares popped over to Scandinavia and _''borrowed''_ (cough, _stolen_ ) Gjallarhorn. Bad memories.

 _''IF YOU WON'T FIGHT!''_ shouted Ares as he waved the Horn above his head, _''NO MATTER! EVERYONE ELSE WILL FIGHT AMONG ME!''_

Then, War God raised the War Horn and blew.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Avatar of Nature's green lips quirk in a smile.

If Hephaestus' eyes could widen further, they did. His ears were overwhelmed with the War Horn's bellow before he could even say: '' _you bloody idiot!''_

 _''DAMNIT, ARES!''_ Hephaestus yelled amid the bellow. _''YOU DID IT. YOU BLOODY GONE AND DID IT. YOU DID EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED TO DO! NOW YOU'VE SUMMONED ALL THE OLYMPIANS HERE, WITH NO WAY OUT, RIPE FOR HER PICKING!''_

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a burst of purple light. It wrenched his concentration away from the Avatar of Nature, and his eyes widened once he noticed the figure—no, the two figures.

It was Dionysus and the Therapist.

 _That was quick,_ Hephaestus thought. _Quick like how Ares blew the War Horn!_

'' _What in Tartarus are you doing here?_ '' Hephaestus yelled as he dodged another flaming-green fireball from the Avatar of Nature.

To be fair, Hephaestus knew exactly why they were here, but he felt extremely pissed enough to ask a rhetorical question.

He glared at Dionysus and the Therapist, who was currently edging towards the ends of the dome as they eyed the Avatar of Nature apprehensively.

''And what's _she doing here?!''_ he said as he glanced at the Therapist.

''It's a long story!'' Dionysus yelled. ''DUCK!''

Hephaestus ducked as the Avatar of Nature swooped over him. Back faced towards him, it snarled at Dionysus and the Therapist and instinctively threw a green-lit fireball at the duo.

They jumped away to the sides, as the green-fireball bounced off of the dome, and rebounded… towards Hephaestus.

Hephaestus was too slow to react. The green-fireball barrelled in him, and he felt excruciating pain burst from his chest. It was as if acid was corroding at him, as he grasped the ground and his chest, trying to rid the substance off.

In the back of Hephaestus' mind, he wondered: _what type of substance is this?_ He felt like he needed dozens of hours of sleep to recover from the acid. The thought of Ambrosia felt far from a cure for… _this._

The Avatar of Nature gave a haughty grin as if she could feel his pain. She conjured up another green-fireball in her palms and readied it at Hephaestus.

… but before she could throw it, a figure appeared from a portal, as it bellowed a War Cry and dramatically crashed into the Avatar of Nature, in which the Avatar of Nature face-planted into the ground and glowing figure roared in triumph.

''Sorry we're late!'' Zeus gruffed out as he flailed his fists as it swirled with lightning. Looking for the enemy that was crushed by Demeter just moments earlier, the Sky God said: ''What seems to be the problem?''

* * *

The Battle that followed was angering, to say the very least.

Obviously, the Avatar of Nature wasn't too _pleased_ with Demeter's impromptu crushing and the Gods' subsequent parade of Victory after that. In the heat of the moment, Demeter had gotten off the Avatar of Nature to join in the party... which led to, say, rather _desirable_ consequences.

Shrieks came from everywhere as the gods dodged the game of _rebounding green fireballs_ inside of the dome like it was a Skee-Ball Arcade Game. Or was it that? The Avatar of Nature couldn't exactly remember. After all, it had been awhile since she played in Arcades.

She had long recovered from Demeter's impromptu _''whoops I ran into you,''_ thing, and she was more enraged than ever. It was more than irritating to see these... _gods_ run around shrieking like headless chickens in a coup. _These_ were the ones that led the World? _These_ were the idiots that decided the policies? _These_ were the ones that were supposed to be the _''role-models''_ to look up to? _These_ were the so-called _''gods''_ that parted fair from just?

It was understandable then that after Kronos sired his children he subsequently ate them.

But no matter. Eradication was on its way anyway. The Avatar of Nature smiled grimly as she stared onlooking the once-partying gods, now in fits of self-saving cries as they bumbled their ways out of her burning flames of just rage.

They would rehabilitate this World for Gaia.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you to **Sv007** for the review! :D Guess it was the AoN after all! (Though Dionysus did appear!) Have to agree that Ares _is_ the War God, he's been given the title for a reason and although he's sometimes depicted as a whimpering baby for (mostly humorous) reasons, he is still the War God and we still need to do him justice. Even though Percy did a number on him. :P

Awright! We're 30 Chapters in now, and I'd like to give a notice that fic will be coming to a close soon. By far, this has been the longest Fic I've ever written—30k words and counting. Who knew I had that in me? xD And another thing I'd like to touch upon—reviews! As of now, I have 96( _!_ ) reviews on this story... and I sincerely, truly appreciate all of your support. It's the most I've gotten on any fic, period. And for you readers—it feels amazing to know that at least 36 of you are following this story, and of which three are actively reviewing ( _you know who I'm talking about. :D)_

I'd end this on a sappy note, but it's sappy enough as it is. Thanks for reading! :)


	31. In Which Everything's Five By Five

The scene was a mass of chaos.

It was of flaming-green fireballs, fourteen screaming gods, one stricken God of Insanity and one dumbfounded Therapist.

As the Therapist and Dionysus backed up against each other, as they watched the fireballs go by, he heard his daughter mutter under her breath: ''I _really_ regret switching from my Gymnastics Course to Psychology right now.''

Although others might've passed it off as irrelevant banter, Dionysus knew that it was an apology in the weird, Dionysus-children sort of way. He would know—he coined it!

''No worries,'' Dionysus muttered back. ''At least you're not the one that _made_ this stupid Dryad _.''_ He made air quotes with his fingers at the word _Dryad_ , which was just swell as two burning-green fireballs whizzed under his arms.

It would be comical, and it probably was, from what he could tell from what his daughter's look said. Dionysus shrugged as the two same burning-green fireballs rebounded, whizzing above his shrug.

What could you do? After all, it wasn't _him_ that was making these green-fireballs do work…

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a green-fireball barrel onwards towards his unsuspecting daughter. Dionysus let out a yell, and dove sideways, slamming and saving his daughter as the fireball whizzed above them.

Dionysus let out a growl as he dusted himself off. His eyes glowed a degree of ebony-purple rage, as his stare riveted onto the Avatar of Nature, cackling with glee as it watched the madness.

 _The Avatar of Nature tried to kill my daughter._

His eyes flickered with a dark purple flame. Well. Dionysus would show the Avatar what _real_ madness was.

* * *

The Avatar of Nature screamed in fury as it thrashed around, its eyes glowing from green to purple all at once. The hand that molded the fireballs spewed with green flickering flames, as it held its head in the depths of the madness, conjuring fireballs while simultaneously making the fireballs crash into herself in the craziness.

Dionysus let himself a dark grunt, satisfied with the Avatar of Nature's… well, madness. Dionysus' brow furrowed as he stared onlooking the Avatar. _It needed to pay._

But then, a blinding light overwhelmed him, and before he knew it, the Avatar of Nature was bristling with unaltered fury, as its sights swiveled from the other Olympians and focused on himself.

Dionysus felt his power trickle away from him. He mouthed a curse before the Avatar of Nature blasted him into the dome.

* * *

''Why—does—it—hurt—so—much?'' Athena groaned, clutching her backside in pain. It was raw, after being scorched by one of the sickly-green fireballs. Which was especially annoying, since the sensation of _burning, the scorching pain_ was not one would like to experience in the immortal life—and even then, it would be only moments before their skin was healed.

But for this case, it was as if the acid was corroding against their skin, eating at the cells that attempted to heal them.

''Don't ask me…'' Poseidon mumbled as he leaned on his Trident for support. Suddenly, a stop. Athena thought that it was because of the green-fireball that spiraled away from him until he spoke: ''Wait… where's Hermes?''

''And Hestia?'' Persephone asked, wincing in pain. She remembered Hestia mentioning something about _peace_ and _staying away from War._ Now, Persephone really wished she'd listened to what Hestia had said.

''I'm jealous of them,'' grunted Hades, dark annoyance spewing from his eyes. ''And I'm not usually jealous of much.'' With a slight grunt, he added: ''Who's plan was this again?''

* * *

Artemis grunted as she battled away another green-fireball with the tip of her bow, causing it to shoot sparks of silver as it exploded in a silvery light.

''How's the fight going, sis?'' Apollo's voice distracted her from her fireball-battling. ''Everything going alright?''

A pause came as Artemis shot an arrow at a fireball coming from behind her. ''S'okay,'' she muttered in response.

Honestly, it was far from _''s'okay,''_ as Artemis had put it. The Avatar of Nature was disrupting the balance between herself and the wild. Before Gaia plotted to kill Ouranous (and sent Kronos and three others to execute the plan), she was Mother Nature itself. Gaia wasn't merely a protector of Nature—no, Gaia _controlled_ it. And being the Protector of the Wild—Artemis had to wrestle between her control and Mother's Nature control on the wild… and the fact that she couldn't control this _Avatar of Nature_ was concerning enough as it was.

Battling that thought as she swatted away yet another fireball, Artemis' thoughts returned to Apollo. ''Sis, you all-right?'' He asked concerned, perhaps aware of her dilemma.

Artemis sighed as she shot another arrow at a fireball overhead. ''Five-by-Five.''

Mentally, she noted that he didn't call her _lil sis_ anymore. Smirking as she drew an arrow and shot it into a fireball, she smiled. That was a nice change.

''A competition?'' Artemis whipped her head towards Apollo at the suggestion. He was grinning. Drawing her bow and shooting at a fireball that sizzled above Apollo's head, she said grimly: ''Well, details?''

He was still smiling. ''First to burn all these fireballs win. Oh, and bonus points if you score that girl.'' His eyebrows quirked up towards the floating figure of the snarling Avatar of Nature.

Artemis scoffed as she readied her bow at the dome. ''You're on.''

Apollo drew an arrow and shot upwards at the Avatar of Nature above. It only managed to scowl before it was hit through the hand with the arrow, as it screeched in vengeful rage as the arrow glowed a degree red-hot.

'' _NOW, SIS!''_ Apollo yelled as the arrow glowed and the Avatar howled in pain. In an instant, Artemis shot the arrow, which shattered into a million pieces in contact with the dome. The shrapnel then propelled in all directions—front, down, forward, upwards, you name it—and hit everything—bouncing off from the gods to the ground to the Avatar alike—but most importantly, it hit and disintegrated the annoying green-fireballs that bounced everywhere, as the green-fireballs exploded like tinted fireworks.

Artemis wiped a sweat from her forehead as she returned her bow to the side.

''I didn't think that would work,'' muttered Apollo.

''Me neither,'' Artemis admitted. But then, above her, she saw the Avatar of Nature break Apollo's arrow in half, its arrowhead falling to the Earth and the glowing shaft in its hand. Her hand was fully repaired—it was as if no damage was done to it.

''When will this damned creature die?!'' was all Artemis said before a blast of green-flames licked her skin.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you for catching up! **Sv007** and **Queen of Poptarts** , I really appreciate the support you give from chapter-to-chapter. It feels awesome receiving feedback from chapters, and I'm really glad to know that someone out there likes the story. :D

 **Sv007** , well we can always count on the one and only Agriculture goddess to crush it. xD About Artemis and Demeter being affected by Gaia—I suppose that it's like the Greek Gods/Roman Gods/Norse Gods/Egyptian Gods problem—trying to wrestle power from each other, I guess. Also, thank you for the idea! :'D

 **Queen of Poptarts,** I'm really glad you're enjoying/has enjoyed the story! :D It's been so fun writing this, and it's no secret that I'll miss writing for this story. It's been an awesome ride with you from the very beginning, and everyone else as well. :)

We have a few more chapters to go! :')


	32. In Which Zeus Does The Honors

Out of the corner of his eye, Zeus saw Ares let out a girly shriek as he was struck by one of the green-fireballs that bounced around the dome like a game. The green-fireball disintegrated into his godly skin as he whimpered in pain.

Zeus grumbled in annoyance. He didn't appoint Ares the title of the _War God_ for nothing. He almost felt offended. What was this pathetic excuse of a War God? He really should seek out some new candidates…

But a second later, Zeus was struck in the abdomen by a flaming yelled out a howl in pain, and clutched his abdomens. _Oh, how it… hurt!_

Above the screeching pain, Zeus noticed the Avatar of Nature float above him, as if she was taunting him. At this, Zeus' eyes narrowed in anger.

''WE NEED TO KILL THIS DRYAD!'' Zeus screeched in the midst of his pain. ''IT NEEDS TO DIE!''

''What do you think we've been doing for the past ten minutes?!'' Hera groaned at her husband, who was currently staggering around in a mix of pain and anger.

Although Zeus was annoyed at his wife, there was something more impending to wait for. He glared at the Nature Avatar in pure anger, as he removed his hands from his abdomen ( _oh, how it hurt!)_ and readied his fists, willing Lightning to form… but surprisingly, nothing.

He glanced at his fists in astonishment, as another green-fireball hit him. Zeus' eyes widened, whimpered at the hit as tears spurt from his eyes, and hopped around in pain. His skin was really sensitive, alright!

'' _WHY AREN'T MY POWERS WORKING?!''_ Zeus groaned as he hopped around. He aroused a gaze of sympathy from Hephaestus, which he took gratefully…

Wait. Hephaestus?

Zeus glanced at Hephaestus, who had now quickly looked away. He scowled. Hephaestus never gave _sympathy_ to anyone. As far as he knew his son, he knew Hephaestus wouldn't care about anything, even if Zeus _was_ (technically) his father… unless Hephaestus did it himself.

''WHAT DID YOU DO, HEPHAESTUS?!'' Zeus growled as he sidestepped away from a green-fireball.

Hephaestus mumbled something he couldn't hear.

''SAY IT OUT LOUD!'' Zeus screamed at his son. He was getting really, really irritated, especially with the shrieking and screaming and yelping and all. It _really_ ruined his concentration.

''I… might've made the dome… a power dampener…'' Hephaestus muttered as he dodged a trailing fireball sizzling above him. At Zeus' raging glare, Hephaestus gulped, and continued on: ''… so basically… it affects gods… kinda like kryptonite… and we lose power… over time…''

''BY MY BEARD, HEPHAESTUS!'' Zeus glowered, but just as he was about to curse, he was hit by the rebound-fireball he sidestepped. His screaming voice came out like a whimper. ''THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS!''

The Avatar of Nature looked at the conversation from above, amused. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned the fireballs she had, and threw it at the complaining duo.

* * *

''Ow!'' Aphrodite yelped as a rebounding green fireball singed her stomach. It revealed a gaping wound, tinted at the edges with sick green. Aphrodite clutched her wound in indescribable pain, as she winced. _How in the world could a fireball hurt so much?_

She decided that no amount of cosmetics could save her skin from this... _horror._

''Aphrodite?'' she heard a voice come from that side. She turned to find Hephaestus, who was gazing at her wound in concern. Gruffly, he asked: ''You alright?''

Aphrodite managed a wince as she gingerly removed her hand from her wound. Beside him, she could see Ares jogging over to her as well. She could hear his scowl as he stared at the hole. _''WHO DID THIS?!''_ she heard him say. To be fair, the perpetrator was sort of obvious, but nevertheless, Aphrodite pointed towards the offending fireball, which was currently being disintegrated by Dionysus, his eyes flaring with purple rage as the Therapist cowered behind him.

Well. Okay.

Without a target to choose from, Ares was left staring at the air dumbfoundedly, as if he was waiting for an enemy to magically appear before him. Beside him, Hephaestus was left wondering if he should make a magical enemy for Ares to fight.

Aphrodite felt her wound gnaw at her. She wouldn't take this anymore.

Scowling, Aphrodite turned to the Avatar of Nature floating above. '' _HEY, DRYAD!''_

The Avatar of Nature looked at the scowling Aphrodite in mock curiosity. _''YES, YOU. GET DOWN HERE!''_

Shaken back into their senses, Hephaestus and Ares both shared a look. Their gazes hardened. There was no fights, or disagreements. They both knew what they needed to do.

A smile pulled at the corner of Aphrodite's lips as the Avatar of Nature descended to the ground. _You just made the worst mistake of your short life._

* * *

 _Don't. Hurt. My. Daughter._

Those were the only words swirling in Dionysus' head as his fists swirled with purple rage. He battled green-fireball left-and-right again, not a care in the world even if his knuckles throbbed with pain and glowing Ichor spewed from his veins.

There was only one thing in his mind. Four words, do be exact.

 _Don't. Hurt. My. Daughter._

 _''YOU DON'T GET TO HURT MY DAUGHTER!''_ Dionysus screamed at the scorching-acid fireballs amid his purple rage. He didn't know if his own insanity was driving him to say that—heck, he _didn't even care._ All that he cared was protecting his daughter. _''GET AWAY FROM HER!''_

His growl, even amidst the chaos, was evident.

 _Don't. Hurt. My. Daught—_

''WAIT A SECOND!'' Zeus yelled amid the blasts and the unholy shrieks. _''THE THERAPIST IS YOUR DAUGHTER?''_ He boomed as he blasted rods of lightning at the Avatar of Nature.

Momentarily shocked out of his insane reverie, Dionysus answered in the only way he could: ''Umm, yeah, Father,'' he muttered as his eyes followed its way to the Avatar of Nature. It was on the ground, as Ares and Hephaestus currently took her on. Eyes flickering with purple anger, Dionysus flicked a vengeful wrist at the Nature Avatar... but to his chagrin, she didn't shrivel into a grapevine.

Dionysus grumbled in annoyance. _Damnit_!

But there was something else he could do.

Muttering a quick _''follow me''_ to his daughter, Dionysus walked, strode, and finally ran towards the Avatar of Nature that was no longer in the air, as he let out a guttural roar and readied a punch in the face of the Avatar.

* * *

The Avatar was surrounded, with no way out.

Ever since the Avatar of Nature descended from the skies, the gods had surrounded her by the dozen. It had started with Ares and Hephaestus and Dionysus—but soon, the Olympians had caught on. By the time the Avatar realized she made a mistake, it was too late.

 _''HAH! TAKE THAT!''_ Apollo yelled as he shot a bright arrow at the Avatar of Nature, catching her in the shoulder. The Avatar of Nature let out a snarl, and reached a hand to pull out the arrow—but in that same moment, a silver arrow buried itself into her hand.

''X marks the spot,'' Artemis grinned, as the Avatar dropped her hand and let out a howl.

Apollo rolled his eyes, but a radiant smile was on his face. ''Too much Hunger Games, sis.''

The Avatar of Nature snarled at the comment, but despite the wounds, it still blocked off Hephaestus' punch, dodged Ares' headbutt, resisted Aphrodite's charmspeak and stepped aside from Dionysus' blast of insanity-spell, and although the gods were weakened by the power-draining barrier, it was no question that the Avatar of Nature was growing weaker by the second as well.

Hades, Persephone and Demeter all let out a simultaneous War Cry as they charged at the pained Avatar of Nature, who was staggering away from Hephaestus, Ares and Dionysus, who didn't realize the trap until a horrified realization appeared on the Avatar's features... but by then it was too late. They had her pinned down.

Poseidon let himself a grin, as he noticed Athena glare at the Avatar disdainfully. Turning over to Zeus, he said: ''I know you haven't done much, brother, and Dionysus, Athena, Artemis, Demeter or Aphrodite probably deserve this moment over you... but I know that Dryad juice is _suuper_ hard to wash off, so...'' he grinned cheekily. ''...you wanna do the honors?''

Zeus grunted and rolled his eyes. But before he could _do the honors, as Poseidon had so eloquently put it_ , Zeus saw a blast come from above, _outside_ of the dome. It spiraled downwards like a fireball, and Zeus mentally prepared himself for the shockwave that would flow through the dome and the construction fees for wherever the fireball bounced into… but instead of bouncing away, it tore through the dome like it was made of paper.

The fireball descended and fell into the center of the dome, where the Avatar of Nature was paralyzed, surrounded by the rallying Olympians.

A screech of pain tore from the creature's throat as the fires engulfed the Avatar. The Olympians winced as they backed away from the godly fire. Then, just as quick as it started, the screeches of pain stopped.

''Is… it dead?'' Athena asked tentatively.

Zeus ignored Athena. He was more interested in knowing who had _shot_ the fireball in the first place. It couldn't be a god, or a demigod, because their attacks would have deflected from the dome's walls…

Zeus looked up. The smoke parted to reveal Rhea, the Great Mother, floating above them as she descended into the hole made in the dome.

Zeus' stared at the figure in complete and utter surprise. Thankfully, he wasn't alone, because the fourteen other Olympians and the one Therapist shared the same sentiment.

The grin on his Mother's face made his heart ache. He'd forgotten how much he missed his Mom's smile. ''You looked like you needed some help there, Zeus,'' she said sternly. ''What did I tell you about getting into fights?''

Zeus paused for a moment, before he let out a belly-ripping laugh, and hugged his Mom.

* * *

 **A/N** : Rhea appears! _(fistpumps)_ Thanks for reading! There'll be one more chapter to go... and an Epilogue to follow. It's truly been an amazing ride. For anyone wondering, no, this won't be hippie Rhea. I feel like hippie Rhea is too... unusual?

 **Sv007** , the sons of Hera would be pissed, and rightfully so. ;D Nice to know that it's been a fantastic journey for you—it's been a fantastic journey for me too, and your insightful reviews are something I look forward to!

 **Queen of Poptarts** , really happy that you've enjoyed the story. :) It's been a pretty crazy ride, but hey—it's the gods! :'D

 _Quick Question: Who is your favorite character in the story?_


	33. The End?

Rhea should really come to Olympus more often.

She was a great sport, and laughed with them as their cheered and gave speeches and drank themselves silly. And most importantly of all, Rhea loved the parties. The Olympians mingled with her as she laughed loudly, a drink in her hand as she looked at her children contently as they celebrated the end of the Avatar of Nature to no end.

''Why, Zeus, how much you've grown!'' She said with a warm smile, giving a pointed look at Zeus.

Zeus felt his cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. But in the good kind of embarrassment, like the one where everyone expects you to be embarrassed and you have to act embarrassed, but actually secretly likes it. ''Y—yes, I have, Mother,'' Zeus said sheepishly, scratching his hair.

''And Apollo! My dear nephew.'' The Great Mother's smile warmed even the Sun God. In an instant, Apollo returned her grin. He now understood where Hestia got her kindness from. With a witty smile on his face, he quickly drew his bow and shot an apple that was on Ganymede's head, landing straight into its target but miraculously staying in its place with a _thunk._

Ganymede wiped off the apple juice on his head nonchalantly. Rhea's grin widened at her nephew. ''I see, you're a '' _hotshot''_ with the bow!''

Apollo smiled a radiating grin as he nodded furiously. The Olympians would've groaned at the lame pun, but they were too excited to see Rhea to say otherwise. ''Thank you, Great Mother!'' Apollo beamed, as he twirled in a circle and shot another arrow. It split the previous arrow, and the apple on Ganymede's head in half, which prompted uproarious claps from the Olympians and the wiping of apple juice from Ganymede.

''How did you manage to destroy the Avatar of Nature?'' Athena asked curiously, amidst the Olympians' loud laughter and claps. It was quite interesting since everything the Olympians had threw at the Avatar didn't seem to harm it, or only fazed it by a little.

''Ah!'' Rhea said, her smile turning to Athena. ''I suppose that may be because I am the Mother of _All,_ Athena. I have the power to raise, as well as take.'' Then, when Rhea saw Athena's waning smile, she elaborated: ''—And I am a _Titan_. The Avatar of Nature is the spawn of my Mother, the primordial goddess of all, and thus, I am able to put it down.''

Rhea paused for a moment. ''You could say it was sort of similar to Ouranous, but at a lesser degree. Without the slicing up, of course.''

''Thank you, Great Mother,'' Athena conceded with a smile. It might've been awkward, if not for the sincerity shining behind Athena's eyes. She gave a quick bow, before rushing off to join the banquet.

* * *

''Hestia,'' Rhea addressed her firstborn, as she quietly tended to the Hearth. At the sound of Rhea's voice, Hestia's calm brown eyes softened, as she dipped her head. ''It's been quite the while, no?'' Rhea chuckled.

''Mother,'' Hestia returned. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. There was no doubt that the gods have told Rhea of their tenure in Therapy, most likely blaming her as the one who started it all. And with the chaos that ensued in the end with the dome and everything, it wouldn't be exactly a surprise if Rhea was, in the very least, annoyed at the eldest sister for not taking care of it all. After all, she did stay in Olympus innocuously while a War raged below.

But what Rhea said was far different from what she'd imagined. ''I'd like to thank you for enrolling them into Therapy,'' Rhea's eyes sparkled kindly, similar to the embers of a Hearth. ''I remember how trigger-happy they were, and the impulsive outburst of arguments they had flourished in before. But now—'' and at this, she glanced wistfully at the partying gods, ''—they seem more mature. More in control, if you could believe it.'' She chuckled slightly, and Hestia followed Rhea's eyes that rested from Zeus and Hera, to Artemis and Apollo, and finally to Hephaestus, Ares, and Aphrodite. ''Deciding to let go of problems, rather than dwelling on them, is quite the pacifier, no?''

Hestia nodded slightly. ''That is true, Mother,'' she said quietly. And then, even softer still, Hestia said: ''I hope the peace lasts. There have— _had_ been moments like these when they get along so, so well. But then, when the breather's passed, we end up in another World War.'' Sighing, she ended softly: ''I—I just hope this isn't a breather, like the last.''

It took a while for Rhea to respond. ''Trust them,'' Rhea said. ''Love and trust go hand-in-hand.'' Then, with a final smile, she said: ''And Hestia, don't forget to have **_faith_**.''

There was a small, wistful smile on her face as Rhea patted Hestia on the shoulder. ''I'll be going now. Back to the party!''

''Have fun.'' Hestia smiled, as Rhea left for the Olympians. Her Mother knew how to make everything better.

* * *

Aphrodite didn't expect Rhea to approach her.

After all, she was the _goddess of Love._ The one goddess that maybe everyone else feared for her ability to warp romance and love, but secretly snickered behind her back. She was the goddess that no one really cared too much about—not even Ares and Hephaestus were here beside her during the celebration, but off to their own things.

Aphrodite stuttered as her body froze up. She wasn't used to showing _respect_ to elders or gods—after all, she could seduce anyone with just a small flirt, a sly wink, and just like that things would fall her way. But this time, obviously, was different. At that moment, Rhea's eyes seemed stony—and Aphrodite wondered if she was about to get a stern-telling off from the Mother of All. But a moment after that, Rhea's eyes softened, and in an act of love— _familial love—_ Rhea caught her arm in the slightest.

Aphrodite was surprised. She knew it was _familial love—_ _she was the Love Goddess, she would know!_ But Aphrodite wasn't a daughter of Rhea by any means. She was born from the froth of Ouranos. So why would Rhea consider her as family _?_

''I know you're in a dilemma,'' Rhea said, slowly and quietly, before Aphrodite could stutter out incomprehensible words. ''I've seen the way you look at Hephaestus and Ares.''

Aphrodite froze up for the second time at Rhea's words. Her mind whirled, but only one sentence was clear— _Was she really that obvious?_

But before she could stutter out unintelligible words again, Rhea spoke first, and this time quickly and hushedly. ''Whoever you love, Aphrodite—'' Rhea murmured lowly, ''—you should choose. Whether it be Ares, the War God, or Hephaestus, the God of Forges... remember, it's up to you. Don't let anyone take that away from you, not even the two gods themselves.''

And with that and a quick squeeze on her arm, Rhea gave the blinking Love Goddess a smile, and walked away into the crowd.

* * *

''It was nice to see you all,'' Rhea said, as she addressed the Olympians. Most of them seemed sad and miffed that Rhea was packing up to leave. After all, it wasn't every day you got to see the Mother-of-All ''But I must leave now. The Grove of Dodonna calls for me!''

The Olympians said their heartfelt farewells, as Rhea flew away into the dusk.

Suddenly, the Olympians noticed Dionysus edge towards where Rhea had once stood, with an awkwardness that _Dionysus_ himself wouldn't usually possess. Clearing his throat and addressing the crowd, he said: ''Well... I assume that you all remember the Therapist?''

The Olympians gave nods, unsure of where he was going.

''About that...'' Dionysus said. ''Er, long-story-short, Quinn is my daughter. And I decided to hire her, full time.''

Behind him stepped out Dr. Quinzel, gazing at the Olympians in a wary, anxious manner, as if she wondered if they were truly ready to blast her to oblivion this time.

The Olympians' emotions ranged from shock, to surprise, to amusement, and to _what-is-this-demigod-doing-on-Olympus_ sentiment—until a snicker was heard from the crowd. And then the dam broke, as hearty laughter burst through the Olympians, as they exchanged smiles and grins. But it wasn't in a condensing, or humiliating way. It was the type of laughter you'd use to greet an old friend, or to laugh at a comfortable meet-up, or for the absurdity of a situation.

 _D_ _are he say it?_ They were laughing insanely.

Dionysus broke into a grin. He stuck out a hand towards his bewildered daughter, amidst the laughing Olympians, but their eyes twinkled with sincere smiles. ''Welcome to the dysfunctional family.''

 ** _FIN._**

* * *

 ** _(Long-ish)_ A/N:** And that's a wrap, everyone! Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you soon... in the epilogue. ;D

 **Sv007** , I'd imagine that Rhea would have a connection to all her children... after all, I guess she would've loved them equally. But then again, there are always favorites, and exceptions... :') As for the idea of Aphrodite loving Ares from the very beginning is also pretty interesting, I think. Their love represents love and hate… which truly is a very thin line, come to think about it—even if their relationship isn't entirely faithful. Personally, I prefer Hephaestus/Aphrodite, but to each of their own.

 **Queen of Poptarts** , I'll miss this story too! Really glad you liked the Therapist, since I'm always sort-of nervous on how to write her. :') And Apollo's Leo-Valdez humor was something I was going for! xD I'm glad it turned out alright. Thanks for joining on in the crazy ride!

 **procrastinatingmushroomfangirl** , your description of the Avatar of Nature being an overgrown leaf is on-point. xD Rhea's definitely an amazing character, no doubt to that. She's the only one that can actually get the gods under control! (Well, somewhat...)

 **Guest** , hey, same here! I quite like Artemis as a character. And although every story has to end... there _are_ new beginnings, yes? Hopefully. :)

 _Another question... I know,_ but what was your favorite chapter in this story? I'm interested in seeing which ones you all liked the most. Was it the gods getting Therapy? Or them going crazy at McDonald's? _(coughs, KFC)._ Or Rhea dusting the Avatar via vicious fireball? :')


	34. Epilouge

Hestia looked over the gods contently.

It had been three months since Rhea's arrival at Olympus, and their defeat of the Avatar of Nature. Currently, the gods were spread out on Olympus—each doing their own thing, but none were alone. For example, Hermes and Dionysus were at Ganymede's makeshift bar; as they drank wine to their heart's content; and Athena and Ares, talking about tactics by the fountain; to even Artemis and Apollo, both shooting arrows off the balcony to the Archery Fields below.

It was a nice change from their usual scream-fests. Everyone was peaceful, as they helped each other out, played games together; and _didn't_ threaten to strip one of their immortal power and send them to Earth (after some persuasion from Hera and Hestia, Zeus reluctantly decided to keep Apollo & Ares' titles for now, mostly because it would be a pain to find new Sun and War Gods), _didn't_ have random brawls in the library and _didn't_ go yelling about in the hallways. That was what really reassured Hestia the most. It was as if Zeus had listened to her suggestion, and banned yelling in the hallways. It didn't happen, of course, but that would make a nice rule change.

Hesita didn't forget her talk with Rhea, however; but she held to her faith in the gods— that everything'll be alright; that there would be no more World Wars; that everyone would get along peacefully... in the very least, she hoped. And it _had_ stayed that way for three consecutive months, which was really more than what Hestia could say, even if there were occasional death threats from Artemis to turn everyone into a jackalope.

Thank the gods they sorted out their problems. Mostly, the _yelling in the hallways_ problems, the _arguments about who-kidnapped-who_ problems, the _relationship and love-triangle_ problems, the _I'm-better-than-you-at-Archery_ problems, the _stealing_ problems (Hestia recalled a time when Hermes stole all of Apollo's cattle. Not fun.), the _father-daughter_ problems and the obvious dysfunctional family problems.

Perhaps they couldn't sort out _all_ of them, of course—Hera still yelled at Zeus occasionally, Artemis & Apollo bickered about their respective archery skills, Poseidon and Athena usually got into heated debates, Ares and Hephaestus joining in stare-offs while Aphrodite pretended to be interested in something else, Dionysus made fun of Hermes while Hermes stealed his stuff, Hades & Demeter had grumpy stare-offs and Hestia herself too had lost her temper at some gods herself—but solving _most_ of their problems was better than none.

Dare she say it?

Perhaps the Therapy worked. It'd been three months since the gods hired Dr. Quinzel to solve their familial problems, and so far, at least in Hestia's opinion, she was doing quite the splendid job. Maybe Hestia would've expected a _blast into Tartarus_ or _disintegration spell_ by now from one of the angered gods because of Dr. Quinzel's stubbornness, but it was nice that it didn't happen yet—mostly because of the insanity-death-threat hanging above her head from Dionysus. They had sorted out some of their problems in the very sessions themselves, and if not—usually sometime after, whether it be onlooking Earth from a balcony or in a Ball's feast.

But it wasn't just because of the Therapist—well, at least not _just._ No, it was their own _want_ to be better. Their own _will._ If anyone told Hestia four months ago that the gods wanted to become better than the spoiled children they were, she would've laughed. But now, Hestia was rethinking her own opinions, and those she had on the other gods as well.

If the gods didn't want to change, then they wouldn't've agreed to join in the first place. They could've just laughed it off as a joke, blasted the sixth Therapist to Tartarus and probably Hestia along with it as well. They could've just claimed it was a fake-out and flat-out leave the session altogether.

But that didn't happen. They joined the session; and even though it was chaotic, even if it was embarrassing, and even if they _were_ notified of Gaia's rise?

It was unusual for Hestia to say this, but they were better off from it.

As she looked at Apollo, training Artemis at archery; and Hermes, stealing Dionysus a bottle of wine from Ganymede; and Aphrodite and Hephaestus, hands intertwined; and Ares and Athena, discussing war-tactics civilly; and Demeter and Hades, telling to each other why they loved Persephone as Persephone blushed a beet-red in the middle of them both; and Poseidon, sitting next to Hestia as company; to Zeus and Hera, kissing each other contently, as if they decided to forget their past arguments, and to enjoy each other's presence for what felt like years to come.

And looking at the scene bestowed before her, Hestia smiled. Anything could be taught, and learned, whether for the good and bad. And that itself could change too, because as Hestia _herself_ had learned, the gods' minds weren't set in stone.

Everyone had a little bit of kindness in their hearts.

 **END.**

* * *

 **A/N:** And that's a (real) wrap! It's been an awesome journey with you all, and it's nice to hear from y'all as well. :) So glad you enjoyed the story!

 **Queen of Poptarts** , glad you liked the depiction of Dionysus! I was a bit hesitant on going the ''fatherly'' route, since, well, not a lot of fanfics do it (at least from what I know of), but hopefully it was believable and well-executed.

 **Sv007,** it's nice to know that you liked reading about Rhea! I wasn't a huge fan of her going ''hippie'' in ToA, so I changed it slightly. As for Apollo... hmm, it would be quite interesting if Dr. Quinzel managed somehow to keep that from happening, but Zeus' rage seems to extend to anyone that incurs his wrath... :')

 **And Sv007** and **althlitolua** , as for the sequel question... it really depends! I'll see if I can get together a few one-shots together, and we'll see. Hopefully I'll be able to make a sequel, but no guarantees.

Finally, thank you for reading and bearing with the overly long A/Ns! :)


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